This towering beetle-like horror has thick carapace segments and massive mandibles that leak sizzling acid.

This monstrous, insectlike beast resembles a huge beetle with gleaming black armored plates. Around its head and neck the chitin forms a great mane of jagged spikes. Its insides swirl with acidic juices.

Myrmecoleons live in remote areas where they claim large territories of wilderness as their hunting grounds. They're often drawn to far-flung ancient ruins and sites of mythic power, and sometimes act as guardians of such places. This has led some sages to theorize that some myrmecoleons aren't born but are spontaneously created by sites thrumming with mythic power.

These creatures only rarely interact with others of their kind—and these interactions usually end in brutal and destructive death matches. Myrmecoleons are cannibals and readily eat those they defeat. When fighting, these insects put on great displays to intimidate rivals or other threats.

Myrmecoleons are known to roll in the corpses of their prey, impaling the bodies upon their carapaces and leaving them there to rot. Why they perform this gruesome act remains unknown. Those who have studied the creature to understand its rudimentary intelligence hypothesize that it might be some sort of a display to showcase its strength to others of its kind, or even be one part of an elaborate mating ritual.

Special Abilities

Death Throes (Ex) When a myrmecoleon is slain, its body explodes, releasing the acids that churn within it. All creatures within a 20-foot-radius burst take 4d8 acid damage (Reflex DC 20 half). The save DC is Constitution-based.

Scalding Spray (Ex) Once every 1d4 rounds, a myrmecoleon can eject a 60-foot cone of acidic chemicals from its mouth. Creatures caught in the blast take 8d6 points of acid damage and are blinded for 10 minutes (Reflex DC 20 half damage and negates blindness). Following the initial blast, the chemicals vaporize into a thick and noxious cloud 20 feet high with a 40-foot radius. Within the cloud, all sight is obscured beyond 5 feet. Furthermore, any living creature within the area of effect must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or become nauseated for as long as it remains in the cloud and for 1d4+1 rounds after it leaves the cloud. Any creature that succeeds at its save but remains in the cloud must continue to save each round on the myrmecoleon's turn. This is a poison effect. The save DCs for this ability are Constitution-based.