The Philana live on the ravaged planet of Gideon in the Kriost System. The Philana live in large underground caverns. They all have twelve legs and live in a mass of living webbing. Each Philana itself is not sentient, only when they are in the web are they individually sentient, once the protection of the web is left, they revert to pure instinct. They all can spat an acidic venom at any size prey, paralyzing them. The webbing, the true sentient mind of the Philana, then sends out large tentacles. The Philana, which resemble large spiders almost one half meter across, are in no way involved in the construction of the web. The web is it's own life form. The tentacle envelopes the disabled prey and brings it into the web, where it is digested by the web. The Philana obtain their food from the web. The web prepares the food in a special way. The Philana obtain nutrition from no other fod source except the web-altered foods.
Most webs have a small opening onto the surface and long strands of webbing reaching out several miles from the opening. This allows the Philana to leave the protection the web affords them and hunt on land at night. The Philana are highly sensitive to bright lights. Any prey caught by the Philana is dragged back to the web tentacles on the surface, which then carry it down into the underground caverns.
During the Clan Wars, the planet Gideon was bombarded from space. However, the Philana, living in underground caverns, were unaffected.
Each Philana female lays one or two thousand eggs at a time. However, due to the Philana's rough environment, only half of these ever hatch, and barely a quarter survive the three-year growth period to adulthood.
The Philana and the web together are sentient. If the web loses it's population of Philana, it dies. If the Philana lose the protection of their webs, they revert to savagery and eventually die from lack of food, which cannot be eaten by the Philana unless first prepared by the web.
Federal Warning: The Philana are a dangerous species and should not be contacted or encountered by any individual unless under the guard of Fab'Rini Federation translators and troops.