Tiny Steps Micro Bugs

Micro Bugs (Mites, Parasites):


Mites:
A commonality throughout the entire bug world, mites are one of two classification of the kinds of bugs so incredibly tiny that even now, turned human-like, they only manage a few millimeters in size. Compared to the other bugs, who are usually a couple of inches tall, mites (and their counterparts, parasites) are so small that they fit on bugs’ shoulders! They usually eke out existences mostly separate from other bugs, building villages in little niches that other bugs can’t reach, but there are so uncountably many of them (in many different types, though larger bugs don’t often realize this) that it’s still far from uncommon to see some unusual mites hanging around larger bugs’ societies. They encompass their own little cultural milieu, with political and military relations of their own, trading and fighting and loving and building and working, but because they’re so small, and so isolated into villages, it’s very rare that these things ever see any sort of prominence in larger bug society. Usually, mites are just seen as little friends and assistants that kind of flit in and out. However, there is a feud that is widespread enough that even larger bugs know about it: though it isn’t universal, many mites and parasites are known to fight bitterly.

Parasites:
The reason that mites and parasites fight so bitterly is that parasites are often (though not always) the more malicious and bitter counterparts of mites, and the only other group on the level of mites, in their little world of micro-bug politics. Having been separated completely from the lifestyle of, well, parasitism, but initially still driven by some of these impulses, many parasites became thieves, often shooed out by larger bugs or even killed like pests – these impulses, as with near to all bugs, have faded and instead become baked into societal makeups and relations, and the parasites still often feel unwelcome both among the larger bugs, who view them as pests, and most mite societies, who view them as mortal foes. There are oases of peace out there where mites and parasites get along, as both mites and parasites make up large and diverse categories not only of bug types but also of cultures –in fact, this is true to a degree that puts even the diversity of the larger bug world to shame—but for the largest part the parasites face an embattled and marginalized life, only really eking out life peacefully in their own little nooks when they’re not fighting mites or being chased away… and then they, in turn, often steal relentlessly and maintain what hostilities they can out of both a need for survival and a sense of spite.