Miniature Platinum Butterfly

Description

The Miniature Platinum Butterfly (or MPB) is a gorgeous butterfly, no bigger than a human thumbnail. They are, as their name suggests, platinum in colour and ancient people believed that it had liquid platinum pumping through its body as opposed to blood. This has since been disproved. The MPBs are not scared of humans, lilithians, dwarves or any other races, and will approach without caution. They are harmless but dim. Some races like to keep great cages of them as pets. They only drink nectar from flowers. Their caterpillar form is bright green and even smaller. They eat nothing but leaves before spinning a silvery coccoon around themselves and metamorphosing into the adult butterfly. The adults mate in the summer and the eggs are laid two weeks later.

Nourishment

The adults drink nectar through a straw and the caterpillars eat fresh leaves.

Sleep Pattern

The caterpillars are nocturnal and the butterflies are diurnal.

Size

The adults are no bigger than a human thumbnail but there is an extinct species that grows much larger. (See Colossal Platinum Butterfly)

Stamina

They can fly for days without sleeping, but do need to stop every so often to feed.

No. Commonly Encountered

They are usually found alone, but sometimes great swarms of them can invade a forest or garden.

Mental Aptitude

They are not very intelligent, and live to breed and feed.

Movement Type

The caterpillars crawl, the adults fly and can walk.

Movement Speed

Despite their size, they are swift. Some can reach 15mph, but this is with wind assistance.

Morals/Alignment

They do not have enough intelligence to have morals. However, more of the traditional "good" races keep them as pets - Shadow Lilithians and Night Orcs would be unlikely to.

Average Life Span

The caterpillars tend to stay in their form for about two years. The butterflies live for some five years.

Habitat and Climate

They live in temperate areas, particularly forests and places with lots of vegetation, particularly flowers. They cannot cope in deserts or tundra.

Fighting Prowess

If there is a fight, the MPB will lose. The species does not ever fight among itself.

Magical Prowess

They show no magical prowess.

Magical Immunity

Due to their size, it is almost impossible to aim a spell directly at them, allowing them to avoid most magic.