Star Wars Insects: Far From Reality?

Star Wars Insects: Far From Reality?

The Star Wars universe is made up of science fiction and fantasy elements, but it does have characters and beings that are loosely inspired by life on Earth. While the countless species of aliens, monsters, and insects are not found on Earth, they are fascinating to watch and learn about as they stay on the specific planet with the climate and ecosystem that allows them to thrive. They also have similarities to insects from our world in their appearance and behavior. 

Geonosians

The term “Geonosian” refers to the species native to the planet Geonosis, as heavily featured in Episode II: Attack of the Clones. These beings live in nests inside huge colony structures on their home planet. They are built like a small human, with gangly arms and legs that they use when they are not flying with their large wings. The battle droid factory that Anakin and Padmé run through is inside one of these colonies, which is why the Geonosians attacked them once their nest was invaded. There are different positions within a colony that these creatures stick to without fail, similar to a hive of bees or wasps. Each colony is led by a queen that lives deep in the catacombs and gives orders to every level of Geonosian. Drones are the lowest level of fully-grown Geonosians, and they can only promote to warrior-status by defeating one another in a gladiator arena. The warrior class of these insectoids lives for war and defending the colony, and their wings and hard exoskeleton make defeating them more difficult. 

The Geonosians are a eusocial, task-focused species, and would resort to eradicating their own kind if they did not have enough productive tasks to do. The archduke, Poggle the Lesser, was heavily involved with the Separatist party and gained the privilege of making the colony responsible for creating battle droids. The battle droid factories kept the colonies busy, unbeknownst to the Republic. Their main form of entertainment lies in the public executions by giant beasts in the coliseum, which is what Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan narrowly escaped from, thanks to the arrival of the new clone troopers to begin the Clone Wars. The Geonosians later were coerced into creating the plans and original construction of the first Death Star. Sadly for them, the Geonosians were eradicated by the Empire after the weapon was fully-constructed in order to keep it under wraps until it was ready to use. 

Relation to Earth’s Pests:

These beings behave like any insect that lives in a hive and lives to work, which makes sense considering creator George Lucas was inspired by termites for the introduction of Geonosians. The artists took a combination of the termites and scrapped ideas for the Neimoidian aliens in Episode I: The Phantom Menace to make the final design of these lanky insectoid aliens. Their hive mindset and the ingrained need to be constantly working is akin to other colonial-based insects like ants, bees, and termites. The Geonosians were not named or heavily focused on as individuals until the hit animated shows, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Rebels.”

Queen Karina the Great

In “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” viewers were treated to a nightmarish take on the hive mind and the colony concept for Geonosians in season two, episode seven: “Legacy of Terror.” After Jedi Luminara Unduli and her clone troopers mysteriously disappeared underground on Geonosis, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and their clone troopers investigate by going through the catacombs. After fighting off zombie-like Geonosians, they find Luminara in a large throne room where the giant Queen Karina the Great is about to brainwash her into becoming a follower. The reason for the undead Geonisans is then made clear: Karina has brain worms that go up the nostril of its victim and imposes the “hive mind” on them. Luckily, Luminara was rescued when the clone troopers attacked and used bright lights to disable the queen since she had never seen the light of day.

Relation to Earth’s Pests:

Karina has the upper body of a typical Geonosian with a massive lower body that holds her eggs until she lays them in the chamber. Her function and appearance is similar to the queens of the insects we know, like ant, bees, wasps, and termites. These insects are all in the eusocial species, which are insects that prioritize tasks and services to help the single or few reproducing colony members; in this case, the queen is in charge and is the sole member who can reproduce and keep the colony populated. The workers gather resources for the queen and colony at large through each type of insect’s abilities. The brain worms that she uses to infect workers and deceased Geonosians is reflected in the real-life social insects that all work for the collective good of the colony. While the queen insects of our world may not be as mean to her colony as Karina is, the structure and functions are the same in both universes. 

Kouhun 

The Kouhun is a creepy centipede-like insect that has enough poison in itself to kill a human, which is exactly what they are used for in the Star Wars universe. This arthropod is used by Jango Fett in an assassination attempt on Padmé in Episode II: Attack of the Clones. They are able to crawl on any surface, thanks to their multitude of legs. Even though they are from a jungle-filled planet, called Indoumodo, they can thrive in any environment, rendering them dangerous to every human in the galaxy. The venom is delivered to their victims through a bite, and they can even deliver a scorpion-like sting first in order to stun them. Kouhuns are predators, and their thirty-centimeter long body does not mean they should be underestimated as omnivores. They are not afraid to bite or sting anything that comes near it, which is why the only way Padmé was able to prevent being bitten was because Anakin quickly dispatched the predators with his lightsaber. 

Relation to Earth’s Pests:

Although centipedes aren’t known to attack humans (unless they get too close), their painful bite and sting show their similarities to the Kouhun. George Lucas told the artistic team to make a lethal insect resembling a centipede, so the similarities write themselves. Both centipedes and Kouhun have many legs, are venomous, and use whatever means necessary in order to attack potential predators and prey alike. The main difference is that the venomous bite from a Kouhun would kill any human in Star Wars, while a centipede’s bite will certainly hurt but won’t kill us, except for very rare instances. The toxins in a centipede’s bite can trigger people’s allergies who are allergic to stinging insects, so it is best to avoid getting close to these arthropods. It is important to treat a centipede bite immediately, but it is good to know that we don’t have to worry about being attacked by a lethal Kouhun at any time.

Gelagrub

This huge beetle-like creature, large enough to have clone troopers ride them on the planet Felucia, looks to be a gentle giant as it does not attack humans. Its short legs arranged in two rows gave the gelagrub the advantage of being able to walk on the steepest inclines due to the sticky substance on the bottom of its feet. The sun on Felucia has harsh UV rays, so the gelagrub is able to combat them by creating its own natural “sunscreen” by continuously eating and converting the food into filtering chemicals that keep the skin shiny. A special kind of gelagrub was sold by engineers that would never pupate like a normal grub, and could survive on formulated mushrooms if there wasn’t any fungi available on the planet they were shipped to as mounts. 

Relation to Earth’s Pests:

We do not have beetles or grubs large enough to ride, which is fortunate or unfortunate depending on your point of view. A similar-looking insect is the Brazilian Skipper Caterpillar, which has green-tinted skin that is translucent upon a closer look. Its circulatory system is visible, similar to a gelagrub and its shimmery skin, even after it eats leaves and turns darker. It is possible to see the networks of this internal system if you are able to watch it closely, like the gelagrub after it eats and produces more chemicals to filter the UV rays. The Brazilian Skipper Caterpillar is the closest approximation to the gelagrub, at least appearance-wise, so there is not an opportunity to ride a grub through a lush forest here on Earth. 

Lava Flea

Although the word “flea” makes us think of a minuscule insect that is nearly impossible to see in our world, the lava flea is another huge ridable insect in Star Wars. This arthropod is native to the lava planet Mustafar, which is covered in volcanic structures and is the setting of the intense battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin (Darth Vader) in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The lava fleas would burrow deep underground in order to survive during their metamorphosis stage until they could survive as massive fleas with a protective shell to withstand the lava storms. The rocks and nutrients that lava fleas ate may have been the cause for the shedding of their shell after a while. The native Mustafarians rode these insects and used their shell as armor in order to gain reliable transportation and protection from the harsh elements. The eyes of the lava fleas also had protection because of a dictating membrane.  

Relation to Earth’s Pests:

These fleas are much larger than the fleas on our planet, but both have similar abilities. The lava flea can leap up to about ninety-eight feet, while normal fleas can leap around thirteen inches, which is how they get from host to host. This is a laughable comparison in terms of numbers, but they are both large distances when we think about the size of a flea compared to its jumping ability. One large difference between the fictional and the real is that real fleas are killed by hot temperatures while lava fleas can obviously survive extreme heat. Our earthly fleas are certainly pests that need to be treated, but at least they aren’t taller than an elephant like the lava flea.

Pest Control is the True Force

These insects are fictional, thankfully, but there are pests that are very real in our universe. Pest control can help with pests and provide preventative treatments in order to prevent future infestations. Contact our pest control team today to learn more about keeping your home pest-free, unlike that old, distant galaxy.

Citations

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Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.). Eusocial species. Britannica. Available at https://www.britannica.com/science/eusocial-species#ref1029117 (Accessed on March 1, 2022). 

Gelagrub. (N.d.). Wookieepedia. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Gelagrub 

Geonosian. (N.d.). Star Wars. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.starwars.com/databank/geonosian 

Geonosian. (N.d.). Wookieepedia. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Geonosian?so=search 

Karina the Great. (N.d.). Wookieepedia. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Karina_the_Great?so=search 

Kouhun. (N.d.). Star Wars. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.starwars.com/databank/kouhun 

Kouhun. (N.d.). Wookieepedia. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kouhun/Legends 

Lava flea. (N.d.). Wookieepedia. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Lava_flea 

Queen Karina the Great. (N.d.). Star Wars. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.starwars.com/databank/queen-karina-the-great 

Whelan, C. (2018, October 24). Identifying and treating a centipede bite. Healthline. Available at  https://www.healthline.com/health/centipede-bites (Accessed on March 1, 2022). 

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