Dayfly Fairies

This idea came to me all of a sudden last night. I felt like sharing, to see if it's a good one.

Dayfly Fairies

Dayfly Fairies are a curious and unique branch of the main fairy species, only now being really studied. They have insect like, glowing wings that reflect sunlight and very noticeable antennae. They also have a pair of antennae like "tails" that bend down and outwards from their body. Their wings appear to not be hampered in any way be being wet, being waterproof. - they can dive and easily emerge and start flying again.

They are found in large numbers around ponds, lakes, swamps and sometimes rivers, specifically around a particular flower, which they have a complicated symbiotic relationship with, – it has been determined that the inside of this flower’s long petals, which stretch upwards, is where Dayfly Fairies eggs are to be found. Dayfly fairies are always small – they lack, or cannot use the shrinking and growing magic common to fairies. Dayfly Eggs always hatch in the morning, when the flower’s petals lower to allow more sunlight. The fact that they are numerous and unable to grow has made them a favourite treat of various small predators, from small nagas to nekos to even mermaids.

What was at first most confusing about this species is that they, like their name suggests, live for only one day. Within the span of one day they rapidly mature, already being adult by the time they leave the flower in the early morning. They are sexually mature by then and mate and lay eggs within the flower from which they were born. The Dayfly then returns to near the same flower in the evening, their wings lose their glow as the sun sets and they crumble to dust. The next day, the whole process continues again, the fairies rapidly developing overnight in their eggs. The Dayfly fairies seem unawares of their fate and are, in fact, especially cheerful and playful even for fairies, living a totally carefree existence, even treating being hunted like a game. They eat sweet berries that grow from the flowers where they were born, play and frolic and make love, before the day ends and so do they.

Curious Negav scientists took some of the Dayfly Flowers and planted them in Negav Park, around a created pond and studied a series of day cycles. Their data was remarkable, showing very close resemblance between fairy parents and their offspring who emerge the next day, even having exact DNA! The truth was revealed when they began to focus on the similarities, some scientists noticing fairies who looked and acted almost identical to fairies in the last cycle. Though the Dayfly Fairies “die” at the end of the day, the Flower seems to be able to store their DNA, passing it on to the eggs. Thus, the set of fairies reborn in a colony is actually almost pretty much exactly the same set of fairies born the day before! As well, the females seem to know exactly how many eggs to lay to keep the population at pretty much a precise level. Ironically, these creatures that live for one day are technically immortal. However, they do not remember any of their countless past lives – these fairies are “stuck” forever in constantly living one, new, exciting day. On Felarya, there could be worse fates.

there is a fairy sections on the forum.

Interesting idea

Awww... That's quite beautiful, really. An original idea, touching, credible and, I think, well suited to Felarya.

((Moving to Dryads and Fairies section))

Oops, my bad. That's what happens when I make posts in the morning...

That aside, thanks for the positive feedback.

Ohh truly an excellent concept here !
very unique and original
I like this irony of an endless day ^^

I... don't know. I'm conflicted. On one hand, this is a really original and good idea. On the other, I don't think it fits in with Felarya at all. What is it that makes them not affected by Felarya's immortality giving soil?


Perhaps instead of being a different sub species of fairy, it can be a type of fairy from another dimension. Not a Felaryan species at all, but a migrant.

That's a good point, but hardly something to say they don't fit over...

It could be likely they're from another dimension. Another explanation is that they are actually a "part" of the flower - the flower is immortal and they are just a part of it that dies and grows again.

Or you could argue that they could be immortal, if there was an endless day. It is the evening and setting of the sun that ends them. I guess one kept in a well lit area with artificial sunlight could live forever. Though that might mess with the ordering of the colony...

Well you can strike the if off the list of explanations. The fact remains that they die of old age at the end of one day.


Now, what you just said about the setting of the sun. That could be a good reason. They die without sunlight. That's not dying of old age, so it gets around the healing power of Felarya. Go with that.

As for having them be part of the flower. Intriguing, but it throws off the vibe you had going. Right now it's a magical thing, if you had them be a mechanism of the plant to get nutrients by actively hunting.... Well, that's a whole different idea for a carnivorous plant that I've been working on. ^^

Sorry, that was what I was trying to say, that they die if not exposed to sunlight.

ok problem starlight and sunlight are practically the same thing since the sun is a star in truth the only thing that would negate this fact is they need a large amount of light

Like any normal plant?

Leave a plant out at night, constantly. Like, no actual sunlight. It tends to not get the right amount of fuel.

Jætte_Troll : after having given some though to the idea I really like it ^_^
But it seems maybe a bit too unique for a race and they wouldn't be able to build a society based on their cyce of life.
So how about putting them in the plant section instead ? as a *really* unique type of plant

zelda31 wrote:

ok problem starlight and sunlight are practically the same thing since the sun is a star in truth the only thing that would negate this fact is they need a large amount of light

The sun illuminates the entire landscape, even places that are in shadow still are in ambient light reflected from surrounding surfaces.
Not really, stars provide a negligible of light and it is not the same, as different types of stars will output a different part of the spectrum. It's not really a problem.

Karbo wrote:

Jætte_Troll : after having given some though to the idea I really like it ^_^
But it seems maybe a bit too unique for a race and they wouldn't be able to build a society based on their cyce of life.
So how about putting them in the plant section instead ? as a *really* unique type of plant

Sure, go ahead. I've been too stressed and occupied to really visit the forum and it doesn't look like it will get much better, so do with it what you will.