Iratus bug
From Stargate Wiki
| Iratus bug | |
|---|---|
| |
| Societal information | |
| Species |
Insect |
| Distinctions |
Hard shell, no eyes |
| Homeworld | |
| Status |
Alive |
| Out of universe information | |
| First appearance | |
- "I suppose the Wraith had to evolve from something. It's probably some sort of, uh, prehistoric cousin."
- — Rodney McKay
The Iratus bug is a large insect creature that lives on several worlds in the Pegasus galaxy and was the precursor species to the Wraith.
Contents |
Overview
Physiology
The Iratus bug is about two feet in length including its tail, it has a thick hard shell on top and a softer underbelly. It has four long legs each with a claw-like appendage on the ends. The creature has no eyes so may sense in another way, possibly smell, and two sharp pincers which penetrate its victims in order to drain life. The Iratus bugs are sensitive to salt water, they create a powerful pheromone and have been known to form a web-like material. The Iratus have a subset of their species, the queens, who most likely lay the eggs. (ATL: "Thirty-Eight Minutes", "Conversion", "Infection")
Feeding
Being an evolutionary ancestor to the Wraith the Iratus bug lives off the life force of others. The Iratus will wrap its legs around the victim and use its pincers to latch on. The victim feels pain followed by loss of feeling in extremities and eventually paralysis. If it is injured while trying to be removed the Iratus bug will suck life out of the victim to heal itself. (ATL: "Thirty-Eight Minutes")
Reproduction
Iratus bugs create a central nest in cool, damp, dark places such as caves. They will suspend large sacs from the ceiling where the Iratus eggs are deposited and many of them will surround the nest, defending it from attackers. (ATL: "Conversion")
History
Creating the Wraith
The Ancients seeded many worlds with human populations including one with Iratus bugs on it. The Iratus feed off of humans and over time the DNA of the two mixed and eventually led to the creation of the Wraith. The Wraith however occasionally used an Iratus bug; hundreds of years ago, a treatment of "last resort" was sometimes used, allowing the Wraith to be fed by an Iratus queen. This process was abandoned as it usually resulted in the death of the Wraith. (ATL: "The Gift", "Vengeance", "Infection")
Tau'ri encounters
When the Atlantis expedition arrived on Atlantis and encountered the Wraith, Major John Sheppard's team went to investigate one of their planets and Major Sheppard, fleeing from the Wraith ran into an Iratus bug web and one of the creatures attached itself to his neck. His team attempted to remove it but it fed off him, it wasn't until they stopped Major Sheppard's heart that the creature finally let go. (ATL: "Thirty-Eight Minutes")
Dr. Carson Beckett used some Iratus DNA to create a retrovirus to be used in a gene therapy that would strip the Iratus characteristics from Wraith. Major Sheppard became infected with this retrovirus but it had the opposite effects, removing human characteristics. A team went offworld to locate some Iratus bug embryos from an Iratus bug nest in order to create a cure for Major Sheppard. When the team failed, Major Sheppard, having partly converted into an Iratus bug, went into the nest to get the eggs himself, as he was excreting the Iratus pheromone that would keep him safe from attack. (ATL: "Conversion")
The Wraith Michael Kenmore used Iratus bugs to create the first generation of his hybrid army. To do this he let the Iratus bug's gorge themselves on the Taranians before they laid eggs, with enough human DNA in the egg which he could manipulate by accelerating development and augmenting its physiology to create a creature with increased strength, agility and resilience. Michael left Teyla Emmagan to be fed on by one of the Iratus bugs but it was killed before it could do so. (ATL: "Vengeance")
Curing the Wraith
When Todd and his hive became infected with a disease after inoculating himself and his soldiers with the gene therapy which eventually led to the death of every Wraith on the hive and the destruction of the hive itself. Using an old treatment of "last resort", he let an Iratus queen feed on him and restore him to full health. (ATL: "Infection")
Gallery
 An Iratus web |
 Teyla about to be fed on |
 A dead Iratus bug |
