Megopteran

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"If you ask me, THIS is a serious ant!"

―Danny, when holding Megopteran's stinger^[src]


Scientific name	Megopteran.
Home era	Future
Creature type	Insect - derived from Hymenoptera
Deaths caused	4 (may have also wiped out humanity along with the Future Predator)
Appearances	Episode 3.8 Episode 3.9 (flashback) Episode 3.10 Primeval Evolved Week 9

The Megopteran was created by Carim Nahaboo, aged 16, from Woodford Green, Essex. He won the competition held by ITV for designing a creature. Carim called his creature a "Megopteran", though the creature has not been named on-screen.

1 Description
2 Young
3 History
4 Trivia
5 Gallery

DescriptionEdit

This monster is a highly adapted predator from the future, which has evolved from carnivorous insects, such as the Tiger Beetle, Tarantula Wasps, Ants or Praying Mantis (most likely the Latter). It grows to 2-4 metres long and as tall or taller as a grown man. Posessing 6 strong legs, a long arched neck, and medium sized wings (allowing flight over short distances) it is a well adapted generalist hunter who will readily attack any avaliable prey. They appear to communicate in a series of loud hollow clicking sounds.

Lacking antennae, the creatures use their large compound eyes to detect prey. When it has found a suitable victim, it will use its large mantis-like forelegs to catch it, whilst the razor sharp superstrong mantables make short work of the meal (as shown it killed a full-grown man in seconds). Its long legs make it a very fast runner as its shown to keep up with Future Predators and it apparently prefers to hunt at groundlevel (since they can only fly short distances), and they relentlessly pursue prey no matter where it tries to hide. They are shown to be quite strong as a baby Megopteran has shown to crack a window by slamming into it without injury.

Although evolved from hive based insects they do not seem to live in the same large colonies and have yet to show any distinct castes although three distinct sizes have been seen they all exhibit similar characteristics. The youngest Megopteran are the smallest at only 30 cm, layed as eggs inside the flesh of captured prey and rapidly develop emerging from the corpse as a small scale version of the adult. The man-sized versions are the most commonly encounted. The largest versions are twice this size and only one or two have been seen. This could have been the queen of a group of megopterans. It is currently unknown if these variations are the result of age, caste differences or sexual dimorphism.

They appear to be one of the apex predators of the ecosystems of the future, the other of course being the Future Predator. Given the food requirements of such large predators, it is implied these creatures do come into conflict with each other (or they even eat each other as shown in Episode 3.8.)

YoungEdit

"In this case the stinger has evolved into an ovipositor."

―Abby Maitland^[src]

The Megopteran goes through a pupal stage, as seen under the microscope in Primeval Evolved.

Primeval Evolved also states that the Worms are the same species as the Megopteran, as, in the sketchbook, they are in the factfile about Megopteran, and are also labelled 'Megopteran Larvae'.

It was also stated in the DVD extra Genesis of a Creature that the "future worm" is the larval state of the Megopteran. However, the hatchling Megopteran also seen in Episode 3.8 was not a maggot, but a smaller version of the adult. It may be that soldier Megopterans are capable of developing faster.

When Jack Maitland is trapped in the Future City, he is attacked by the Megopteran maggot in the pit he falls into, he is eventually retrieved by the ARC team. (Episode 3.8)

HistoryEdit

Sometime after the Future Predators were apparently created (Episode 3.10) and wiped out Humanity, the Megopteran thrived in ruined human cities and competed with the Future Predators.

An anomaly opened up in a Race Circuit in the Present and was tended by the ARC. A Megopteran came through and attacked Danny Quinn, although it was soon killed by a passing car. When Abby's brother Jack Maitland arrived and was attacked by another Megopteran (which had also come through the anomaly before it was locked), he escaped through the unlocked anomaly into the Future. The team set off to rescue him, and despite being hindered by both Future Predators and a nest of Megopteran (which Danny drove out of their nest in an old abandoned building with an explosive), they were successful. (Episode 3.8)

An anomaly opened to Christine Johnson's office and a Megopteran came through. You fought with it, but ended up stranded in the Future City. (Primeval Evolved Week 10)

Whilst Danny, Abby and Connor pursued Helen Cutter to the future in order to stop her destroying humanity, they were attacked by three Megopteran. They were able to escape the Megopteran by tricking them into going through Christine Johnson's anomaly to her HQ. Becker and Sarah Page were able to deal with this threat by locking one Megopteran in a room and electrocuting the other two. (Episode 3.10)

When New Dawn created the Sterile Earth Future, the Megopteran were presumably erased from the timeline. (Episode 4.1)

TriviaEdit

After the Future was changed into the Sterile Earth Future and presumably later another future, the Megopterans were presumably erased from history.
Megopteran is the only future animal with a scientific name.
For arthropods to reach such size, the oxygen levels in the Megopteran's home time would have to be much higher than in the present day. However they have been shown to be able to live in modern times, suggesting that the Megoptorans had evolved some sort of advance respiratory system comparable to mammals or birds.
The Megopterans are the third insectoid creatures to appear in Primeval, after the Carboniferous Arachnids and Silurian Scorpions. Though they are the first insect creatures from the future.
This is the third creature to kill a Future Predator, excluding the animals within the Creature Prison belonging to Oliver Leek.
This is the second non-mammalian animal from the future that the team has encountered (excluding the Future Fungus as it was not an animal). The first was the Future Shark from Episode 2.4, the third were the Giant Burrowing Insects from Episode 5.1, and the fourth were the Future Beetles from Episode 5.4.
This is the only flying arthropod that the team has encountered.
This is the only creature that is a match for the Future Predators in the future habitat in which both live alongside each other. It is unclear though, whether the Megopterans are a serious threat to the Future Predators. Though population of both seem to be abundant, it is possible that they lived on different continents and collided due to a continental shift, and they competed with each other.
The Megopterans seem to be winning the battle against the Future Predators, as just after the team get back through the anomaly, only Megopterans emerge from the smoke at the end. This could mean they are a threat to the Predators. Even so, the Future Predators had been dispersed and divided by Becker as he led as many as he could away to help secure the rescue of Jack Maitland and the safety of the rest of the team. This would have weakened the local strength of the resident Future Predators of this single outcrop, before the Megopterans were smoked out to the surprise of both the team and the Future Predators. In surviving alone, it can be assumed Becker killed at least one or two of the pursuing Predators, therefore further reducing the total number of Future Predators available to do battle with the latecoming and heavily concentrated Megopterans. The fight began with an even balance, though, with the Predators seemingly enraged at the sudden appearance of their archenemies. Without fear, they extremely violently attacked the Megopterans, the Predators surrounding the wrecked bus, all turning together at once for a preemptive charge. However, having already lost several of their number to a combination of Becker's shotgun and silenced pistol (as well as the one Danny Quinn fatally skewered from inside the bus with a jagged metal pole) and probably having had some of their number spread out looking for Becker, the number of Future Predators at the focal point of the battle, was apparently just too few - to go head to head with what appeared to be perhaps the entire local population of Megopterans, smoked out at a bad time for the Predators. Though the last we see of the Future City is of Megopterans swarming before the anomaly, and grimly feasting on a Future Predator carcass, it should be noted that this individual Predator had been killed by Becker with a shotgun blast at the last moment as it leapt onto the wrecked car he was hiding in. This Predator was itself drawn away from the main fight in a pursuit of the fleeing team. Therefore, this animal could have either fought to the death or withdrawn to safer ground with any other survivors of its kind, had it not been shot dead. In any case, had the numerical odds been even and the timing more typical, the chances of a Predator victory would have been greatly increased. As Predators work in large groups to kill larger foes or prey items, one could suggest that if the colony of Megopterans had been compromised, the Queen - perhaps the largest of the Megopterans as big as a house - would be torn apart slowly by the marauding Predators. This may have happened on other outcrops that we see in the distance, each baring urban ruins. That a single outcrop is overrun by either the Future Predators or Megopterans, does not necessarily mean one was stronger or weaker than the other overall. It seems they are well matched adversaries; meaning a fight could go either way. Certainly, the balance of power was rather even in Future City, before the humans from both the ARC and Christine Johnson's Military disrupted this by various actions.
It is also important to note that by Episode 3.10 when the team are after the newly revealed in vengeful return Helen Cutter, after they are confronted, threatened and stranded by Helen Cutter (whom herself was found at the console of the Future ARC in Future City by Connor, Abby and Danny, and intended to be captured, stopped or at least followed) Connor has to hastily power the console and plot a way to escape - as a huge pack of Future Predators had sensed their presence and were closing in for the kill. Even as the progress of the hand-held anomaly reached 100% and the anomaly to the Cretaceous reopened, illuminating the dank room, many Predators were revealed to be within several feet of Connor, Abby and Danny. They only just got away. Point is, clearly the Megopterans had not wiped out the Future Predators of the Future City. It seems they still moved in terrifying force, even after many were killed earlier by the team (mainly Becker) and by Megopterans. This adds weight to the idea that they were evenly matched most of the time, and that at any point the Megopterans could themselves be annihilated by the Predators. Perhaps this is why not just the Megopteran's larvae live underground mainly, and the Predators tend to dominate above ground.
They had the advantage to fly away from combat over short distances.
In Episode 3.8 it is stated that the Megopteran is a descendent of wasps and bees, although the website and several other sources state that it is a beetle or possibly even a praying mantis.
The Larvae that Jack and Danny encounter in the bunker are stated to be Megopteran larvae, but the hatchling Megopteran that attacked Sarah in the present was a smaller version of the adult. This could be some error, unless the creature shrinks in size after transforming from the maggot or it is possibly a larvae of another futuristic arthopod species.
- Or it could be that the queen has maggots (because the creators conformed that it is a Megopteran maggot on the Series 3 DVD extra ('the making of a creature'), and the warriors lay eggs that hatch immediately into smaller Megopteran, almost like aphids. The maggots could grow into new leaders, and the babies would live their lives as workers untill they've fully grown into warriors.
It was changed a great amount from its original concept art contest entry, removing a stinger, having larger wings, a smoother surface exoskeleton, legs facing different directions, red eyes, a tail, a longer neck, smaller sleeker body, larger anntenae (on a different spot), and the mouthparts have been altered (not to mention 2 spines behind its head) to say suffice it has been altered to look like a Praying Mantis.
It is second largest "bug" creatures the team has encountered, the first being the Giant Scorpions in Episode 2.5.
Like other insects, Megopterans don't like smoke (naturally as smoke is toxic) - they crawled out of their hive after explosion of Danny's bomb. Danny said "It's smoking them out".
As Abby said in Episode 3.8 , Megopterans' bodies contain a large amount of selenium. This is likely due to exposure to a selenium-filled environment, as the Future City was apparently rich in selenium.
This is the last new future creature to appear before Primeval's cancellation between Series 3 and 4.