| Class: | Beast, basic or enhanced |
| Hab: | Mirror-Chameleons: any open terrain Silver Cups: any open terrain Metallic Zebras: forest, jungle, tall grass, ruins |
| Fre: | Uncommon |
| Num: | Mirror-Chameleons: 3-18 Silver Cups: 50-500 Metallic Zebras: 5-15 |
| Lair: | Mirror-Chameleons: 40% (nest in shallow burrows) Silver Cups: 90% (nest in deep tunnels) Metallic Zebras: 20% (nest in grass balls or up in trees) |
| Size: | Mirror-Chameleons: 2,000 - 2,500 lbs. Silver Cups: 50-100 lbs. Metallic Zebras: 100-200 lbs. (Titian-scale forests have giants) |
| Move: | 20 mph; MC's and SC's burrow, zebras climb well |
| Def: | Metallic exoskeleton, reflect energy and magical attacks |
| Att: | Laser, reflected energy, magic attacks, steel-shearing bite |
| Int: | Barely |
| Spec: | Reflect and concentrate light; some reflect magic as well |
| Posns: | Metal-infused parts used for armor or as high-grade ore |
Reflecting Beetles
There are three main groups of reflecting beetles, the mirror-chameleons, the silver-cups, and metallic zebra beetles. In common, they have greatly enlarged, flared, and somewhat cupped forehead shields, something like a ceratops. The exoskeleton, either in its entirety (mirror-chameleon beetles), just the forehead shield (silver cup beetles), or in stripes (metallic zebra beetles), is polished to a mirror-bright finish.
All three groups of reflecting beetles are is adept at catching, focusing, and reflecting light (and similar energies) with this forehead shield. Bright sunlight can be focused with laser-like intensity, causing mild skin burns or setting flammable materials alight. Other sorts of energy, such as laser beams, bright flashlights or headlights, intense heat, microwaves, radio, or even sonar (or sound attacks) can likewise be caught, refined, and reflected at 10x the original intensity.
In mana-rich areas reflecting beetles of all sorts are often (80%) able to reflect magic as readily as they do light; some claim to be able to recognize these sorts by a shimmering in the presence of magic.
In addition to its reflecting primary attack, useful at considerable distances, all reflecting beetles have a wicked close range attack. Their mandibles can slice through metal; indeed, they are attracted to metal and will attack tasty sources, whether armor, artifacts, or ore deposits. They will dig to access metal, and scour ruins - or corpses - for metallic scraps.
The mirror finish of the exoskeleton helps the beetle blend in to its surroundings quite well. The mirror-chameleons require only minimal cover, if any, to virtually disappear in plain view. The silver-cup beetle tends to position itself facing danger, so its black or dusky body is unseen, behind its mirror-finished forehead cup. The metallic zebra reflecting beetle prefers habitats with an interplay of light and shadow or with undergrowth; with the least cover to break up its outline, it disappears into its setting completely.
Mirror-chameleons nest in shallow burrows, just deep enough to get out of the worst weather; they spend most of their time nibbling lichens from hard surfaces, or nibbling through hard surfaces to access metal. The carnivorous silver-cups nest in deeper burrows, but spend considerable time poised just at the entrance, with only their heads exposed; a colony of such burrows forms an effective trap for passersby. Metallic zebras are vegetarians, but will pursue sources of metal, which are difficult for them to find in some forests and jungles; metallic zebras also frequent ruins in search of metal.
The metal-infused exoskeletons of all sorts of reflecting beetles can be smelted and the metals extracted as from of rich ore. Some armor-crafters use reflecting beetle carapace sections, either intact as large plates or cut in to smaller pieces, to form the top layer of composite leather armors as hard as the silvery metals they are composed of; these armors also confer the beetles' camouflage enhancement.
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