Antonin

Antonins are an insectoid type of Grimm. They are modeled off of ants.

Appearance
They are typically between 10 and 16 centimeters in length. They have six legs, each around 3 centimeters long. They are mostly black, but their pincers are red. Some of them will have red stripes, which can be used as a way to detect which ones are poisonous. The Queen also has golden eyes.

Behaviour
A swarm can have hundreds, if not thousands, of Antonins. They live in underground constructs, networks of tunnels. From the surface these are only visible as a large perfect circle of dry dirt, void of any grass or other plant life. These colonies can be between 1 and 10 meters in depth, and average around a meter in radius. Although it appears solid, the area of ground above actually acts similarly to a spiderweb. Once anything attempts to walk on it, the circle will collapse and the creature will become trapped in the resulting hole. They are then consumed by the swarm of angered Antonins.

Antonins will also venture out of their colony to hunt. This usually means surrounding their prey underground, before a pheromone signal tells them when to all emerge and attack at once, overwhelming the opponent. Once effectively paralysed with the Warior's poison, the prey will be carried back to the nest to be feasted upon. The only way to detect if you are being hunted is to watch very carefully for subtle shifts in the earth around you.

Types
There are three types of Antonins known, the Queen, the Warrior, and the Worker.

The Queen
The Queen Antonin never leaves the colony. It is the biggest variation, averaging around 15 centimeters. They can be identified by their golden eyes. When a creature is unlucky enough to fall into the colony, the Queen may either allow her subjects to feed on it, or she may choose to inject it with her eggs. Once inside, these eggs will gradually transform the body mass of the entire being into a new generation of Antonins.

The Warrior
The Warrior Antonin is the type that will leave the colony to go hunting. They can be identified by red stripes across their bodies. The Warriors average at around 13 centimeters. Their pincers have a paralysing agent that can cause complete paralysis in an average human after only 15 seconds with only five bites.

The Worker
The Worker Antonins are by far the most common. They average at around 11 centimeters and are responsible for rebuilding the colony whenever anything falls into it. They usually construct the top layers first as to keep up the illusion of solid ground. These top layers can usually be completed in under 6 hours if the colony is at full manpower.

Inspiration
The Antonins are inspired by the Siafu species of ant as it is portrayed in the Indiana Jones franchise. The name Antonin also comes from the name of a russian soldier who was eaten by the Siafu in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.