From the wall directly opposite to the opening protrudes a single mobile stalk with a cartilaginous ruff around the tip. Close to it is the conception spot: a swollen circular area, about 4 ft in diameter (~ 1.2 m) and encircled by twelve long thin tentacles. The opening, as stated above, is a vertical slit, also fringed with tentacles. The interior of the Mother consists mostly of an oval-shaped hollow chamber with fleshy reddish-grey walls crisscrossed with blue and red tubes (possibly akin to veins and arteries) and a number of starfish-like groups of short tentacles scattered over the walls and ceiling.
After this important task is performed, the captive "mate" becomes food for the Mother, while the conception spot heals and swells into a bag, which bursts open to release ten mouse-sized young offspring called Sluggos.
The nature of the stimulus is such that it must be inflicted by another creature: a Mother could not start the process on her own even if she were to grab a rock with her tentacles and attack the conception spot herself. This provides the necessary stimulus to trigger the development of the Mother's offspring. While some animals are consumed, others are kept alive inside the Mother, to be used as a "mate".Īlthough Mothers reproduce by parthenogenesis, they need a mobile life form to act as a "mate" and attack the conception spot area inside their wombs. They also have glands that produce different kinds of pheromones and release clouds of musk to attract specific kinds of prey. These tentacles are strong enough to lift and immobilize Human-sized creatures. Long tentacles emerge from a slit-shaped vertical opening on the side of their bodies to grab food and pull it into the Mother's hollow interior. When a Mother grows too large, she reabsorbs her shell and secretes a new one, although this makes her temporarily vulnerable to predators.Ī Mother's diet is omnivorous. The composition of the shell varies based on the available resources, ranging from mineral shells of granite, diorite, marble, basalt or limestone, to metallic iron shells, glass-like silicate shells, and even wooden shells made of cellulose. Their mineral shells are made from materials they absorb from the soil with a system of underground roots. They have a retractable antenna, which they use to communicate with each other by radio signals. At first sight, they resemble large boulders, some as big as a bungalow. Young members of this species are called Virgins, or Sluggos (a nickname coined by Eddie Fetts). Philip José Farmer Mothers are a sapient all-female species of sessile creatures which communicate by radio waves.
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