All About SugarBug

Okay, I know you’re all wondering what a SugarBug is. So I guess I should tell you something about myself. I’ve always been reluctant to tell my story because of the problems it might create. I will have to be very careful I don’t get caught because I don’t want to end up as some laboratory study, locked up in a little cage. However, having gone this far, I might as well tell you everything.

You see, I am not from earth. There! I’ve said it! My home is a tiny planet called Starfire, in a solar system so far from here that earth’s most powerful telescope is unable to see it. There are three different species of creatures on Starfire. My species is the smallest which is why we are called SugarBugs. The other two species are Middles and Giants, according to their size. Body and wing colours vary between the species too so you can’t confuse a young Middle with a SugarBug.

The ancient ones used to be called just Bugs, but that was when they lived underground. After we learned to build houses, using a kind of sugar substance as glue to hold the building sticks together, we became known as SugarBugs. I like that better. Our homes are usually built in small plant growth, kind of like the shrubs here on earth. Middles build their homes in trees by weaving branches together and Giants live in caves.

Death on our planet resulted only from very old age. We lived in peace and we had no diseases. So, a long time ago, we realized that our tiny world was becoming overpopulated and that in future, we would run out of land space and food resources. Reproduction rates were lowered but we knew that would not be enough.

Our scientists decided it was time to begin seeking other worlds to live on so they developed space pods designed to travel very long distances. Each pod could hold two families of Giants, three Middle families or ten SugarBug families. The pod I was in landed here on earth and I was born shortly after. So far, we have no knowledge of another pod landing on earth.

We have adapted well to life here on earth. Our homes and food sources are slightly different but it is good. Out of necessity, the location of our colony is a closely guarded secret and must remain so. The penalty for disclosing such information is death. Most of the colony sticks close to home but a few of us like to travel. We can fly fairly long distances without stopping and have a built-in cloaking device that renders us invisible to the human eye. We are very cautious in our dealing with humans but we converse freely with members of the Animal Kingdom.