Formid

The Formid are a lesser known race of ant-men largely relegated to the northern reaches of the Sapiera Mountains in Zandalar. They are vile, ill tempered creatures similar to Mantid in form and size but remarkably less intelligent. Their unbearably pungent pheromones and habit of dragging all forms of rotting biotic material to their hive has earned the revulsion of the neighboring Zandalari, who have since nicknamed the corpse strewn landscape "The Heap".

Biology and culture
Notably, one difference exists in both the behavior and biology of the Formids. Occasionally, females are born that, while still retaining insectoid qualities, are remarkably humanoid in appearance. Much like the Battleguards of the Qiraji, these formid bare a superficial resemblance to elves, and are capable of thought comparable to most of the higher races. These units are the true authority among the Formid, for the queen serves no purpose other than continuous procreation.

Much like Mantids, Formid do not operate on a hive mind, and, due to their agression limited intelligence they often need these females to consistently release pheromones to coordinate more complex maneuvers. For this reason they are referred to as Taskmistresses. Taskmistresses are the only Formids capable of verbal communication, speaking in a low, muddled form of shath'yar that would leave even k'thir insulted. Tortollan translators have ocassionally been employed by the Zandalari for attempts at communication, although each time their phlemy hisses have turned out to be little more than constant threats and curses.

Some formids are born with wings, using their airborne capabilities to hunt and flee from the various reptilian predators that surround them.

History
Few scholars among the trolls have any desire to study the Formids for these reasons. However, all who do so have come to the conclusion that, they are descended from the Aqir. Debate is ongoing as to whether, like the moderately less detested Ranishu, the Formids were descended from the Aqir that remained following the Aqir and Troll War, or, due to the similarities of the two races, were rather descended from Mantid that migrated northwards prior to The Sundering.

Despite their size, gleeful enjoyment of spitting caustic acid on intruders, and chitinous shells, they have rarely been regarded as a threat to the Zandalari, as over the many millenia that the Empire has been aware of them, there have been but a handful of occasions that the insectoids were able to raise a force formidable or coordinated enough to pose any semblance of a threat to troll settlements. Nonetheless, the Zandalari have found the creatures so monumentally repulsive that they have launched numerous unprovoked raids on The Heap when its stench carries over to Dazar'alor. Each major conflict ends with the Zandalari torching the Formid hive down and slaughtering every insect in sight, but each time, at least one of the beasts survive, causing another hive to eventually replace the population. To keep the Formid numbers consistently low, hunters from the neighboring settlements of Sapiera are enlisted. Although, with the rise of G'huun and his subsequent empowerment of the insectoids, these efforts have not been enough.