Unidentified hive-mind beetle

A type of hive-mind beetle lurked in the service corridors of the First Death Star during its construction over the planet Geonosis between 14 BBY and 9 BBY. Though able to navigate independently, the murderous bugs could combine into a menacing monster capable of quickly slaughtering large beings, including a Whiphid, with their fangs.

When Imperial pest controller Jonram Dremel was tasked with tracking down a large creature in the depths of the space station with the aid of four prisoners, the group encountered some of the flying beetles and the Dianoga Omi. The combined form of the beetles ambushed the Whiphid J'Rea and a Dianoga hatchling, scaring the human criminal Geratt into fleeing. The criminal was quickly subdued by the Imperial pest controller by activating Geratt's stun collar. In the brief moment Geratt was taken to the floor, a large number of beetles surrounded the criminal before they coalesced into their fanged form and took the human's life.

As the survivors turned on one another, Dremel was slain and Espirion criminal Saan was left to die by the Mohsenian Kricad. Kricad was nearly attacked by the creature before Omi pounced on the beetle monster, giving the Mohsenian a chance to escape. Unfortunately for him, however, a number of the beetles stowed away onto Dremel's ship as Kricad made his jump to hyperspace.

Text and facts from the “Unidentified hive-mind beetle” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.