Buglin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Classification | |
|---|---|
| Structure | Field |
| Origin | Fabricated |
| Class | Inborn |
| Characteristics | |
| Life cycle | Buglin, Rupter, Mangler |
| Length | 15–30 cm |
| Transmits | COTH |
| First recorded | 2020 |
The Buglin is an Inborn field parasite of Fabricated origin, and the juvenile form of the Rupter. Buglins have no means of attack and flee from anything that approaches them. They feed on organic matter in the soil and in buildings until they mature into Rupters.
Buglins were among the first parasites recorded on Earth, in 2020. Every Buglin that survives becomes a Rupter, and clearing them is a large part of parasite control in held territory.
Description
A Buglin is 15 to 30 cm long, and black. Its soft body is made up of three segments that step down in height from back to front, with rows of slit-like openings along the top of each segment and a small mouth at the front of the lowest one. It moves by contracting its segments, in the manner of a caterpillar, and can squeeze through gaps a few centimetres wide. It has no eyes, and finds its way by touch, vibration and smell.
Life cycle
Buglins are grown in infested ground and by Dispatchers, and are also carried into new areas by Light Carriers, which release them when they burst. A Buglin grows by feeding, and matures into a Rupter once it reaches full size. Buglins that die decompose into the soil, and are among the organisms through which ground first becomes infested.
Behaviour
Buglins avoid all contact. They run from people, animals, vehicles and other parasites, and spend most of their time hidden in loose soil, under leaf litter, or in the dark spaces of buildings: cellars, crawl spaces, wall cavities and the gaps beneath floors. They are most active at night. In buildings they feed on food waste, stored food and rotting wood.
Control
Clearing Buglins before they mature is the most effective way to limit the number of Rupters in an area. Killing scattered individuals achieves little; clearance depends on searching an area systematically, including every building in it. Buglins are found with thermal imaging, by trained dogs, and by sealing and fumigating buildings.
In held territory, sightings are reported to municipal pest control services, which have been responsible for Buglin clearance in most cities of the European Federation since 2021. A building where Buglins are found is closed until it has been cleared and inspected.
Public guidance in the Federation is to report a Buglin rather than kill it, as a single kill can hide the rest of a group, and to handle a dead one only with gloves, since its body fluids carry COTH. Households in districts near infested ground are advised to keep food in sealed containers and to clear food waste daily. Since 2022 sellers of houses in several member states have had to disclose any Buglin closure of the property in the previous five years.
Effects
Buglin clearance became one of the largest municipal services in the Federation in the early 2020s. In 2023, the last year in which Buglins were found widely away from infested ground, pest control services in the Federation closed and cleared about 240,000 buildings. Farms near infested ground lose stored grain, fodder and root crops to Buglins, and since 2022 grain stores in those districts have been built with sealed concrete floors.
History
Buglins were first recorded in 2020, and matured into the first Rupters in 2020 and 2021. Until 2023 they appeared widely in areas with no established infestation. Since then they have been found mainly close to Beckons and where Light Carriers have burst.