Insects are the first sign of non-plant life.
With The Planet Crafter‘s release, terraformers can now introduce insect life to their planet.
Once your planet reaches the Insect stage of terraformation, you have a new dimension of biomass to start cultivating. TheInsect biomass unitis unlocked in the Insect stage and can only be incremented by introducing insect life into the environment. This task is accomplished by setting up machines that produce insect biomass modifiers.
In addition to the new biomass unit, you’ll notice larvae begin to appear throughout the planet. These small, sausage-like grubs come in three varieties: common, uncommon, and rare. On super rare occasions, you’ll even be able to find an exotic butterfly larva. Combined with the exotic butterfly larva and butterfly research, there are 19 speciesof butterflyin total to acquire in The Planet Crafter.
The larvae can spawn anywhere on the planet, including underwater, inside your base, on top of rocks, etc. Common larvae have a mottled tone about them and are easily differentiated from the uncommon and rare varieties. Uncommon larvae have a pronounced, darker head and a single-toned body, whereas rare larvae have a darker caramel color with brown accents. Each variety is worthwhile to collect, depending on the type of insect you are looking to produce.
Insect biomass machines and items
Terraformers can begin producing insect biomass by setting up abutterfly dome. The butterfly dome blueprint unlocks when plant biomass has reached 140t. This dome looks quite similar to the tree bark-producing biodome T2, but it does not produce anything. When you’ve acquired a butterfly larva, you can place it into the butterfly dome to produce insect biomass. Up to two butterfly larvae can be placed in the butterfly dome to receive the insect modifiers of both larvae.
Craft butterfly larva with the Incubator
When the Terraformation Index reaches 5 GTi, theIncubatorblueprint will unlock. This machine is used to craft butterfly larvae from the common, uncommon, and rare larvae found around the planet once the Insect stage has been reached.
Incubator blueprint
- Tree bark x 1
- Fertilizer T2 x 1
- Super Alloy x 1
- Oxygen capsule x 1
To use the Incubator for butterfly research, you’ll need fertilizer, mutagen, and a larva to experiment with. Both the mutagen and fertilizer can be made in the biolab. If you are familiar with using the DNA manipulator to craft tree seeds, the Incubator works similarly for insects. Place the components into the Incubator’s research inventory and press ‘research’ to begin researching a butterfly larva. The potential butterfly larva you’ll receive depends on the larva type you use and a bit of chance.
Butterfly farms, beehives, and outdoor farms
A handful of craftable machines are available to help you build the insect biomass unit. Thebutterfly farmproduces the largest insect modifier of the three at75/sand can have a butterfly larva inserted for an additional insect bonus.
Butterfly farm recipe
- Fertilizer T2 x 1
- Zeolite x 1
- Bioplastic Nugget x 1
Next up is thebeehive, which adds a15/sinsect modifier. Beehives are a great machine to set up since they produce insect biomass and honey, which you can use for high-end food crafting. One tricky component to crafting a beehive is the bee larva, which itself is craftable only. You can overcome this challenge by crafting bee larvae from uncommon larvae as soon as you have the incubator recipe.
Beehive recipe
- Bee Larva x 1
- Super Alloy x 1
- Fertilizer x 1
- Bioplastic Nugget x 1
Finally, we have theoutdoor garden. This machine has the least insect output at8/s but can grow several veggies for you at a time. This can help you accelerate fertilizer production, which is needed to craft all larvae in the Incubator. Setting up a few outdoor gardens and planting eggplants will help kickstart the fertilizer farm you will need to terraform insects in earnest.
Outdoor Garden recipe
- Bee Larva x 2
- Water bottle x 1
- Super Alloy x 1
- Fertilizer x 1
- Fertilizer T2 x 1
Planet Crafter butterfly larva
There are 19 different species of butterfly to collect in The Planet Crafter, and each type has varying bonuses to insect biomass. The introduced three butterflies with a significant boost to insect modifier to aid later insect biomass generation. Most butterfly larvae are crafted by the player using an Incubator. The following butterfly larvae are crafted using common larva:
- Butterfly Azurae Larva: 120% modifier
- Butterfly Empalio Larva: 120% modifier
- Butterfly Leani Larva: 175% modifier
- Butterfly Abstreus Larva: 175% modifier
- Butterfly Galaxe Larva: 175% modifier
- Butterfly Fensea Larva: 200% modifier
To get better insect biomass modifiers, players can craft additional butterflies fromrare larvae:
- Butterfly Penga Larva: 230% modifier
- Butterfly Chevrone Larva: 250% modifier
- Butterfly Aemel Larva: 300% modifier
- Butterfly Liux Larva: 500% modifier
- Butterfly Imeo Larva: 1000% insect modifier
- Butterfly Serena Larva: 1200% insect modifier
The remaining butterfly larvae are considered wild (or exotic) butterflies and can only be found as a ground spawn. These larvae can spawn in many locations, but some prefer to spawn in more specific biomes. The exotic butterfly larvae are as follows:
- Butterfly Fiorente Larva: 600% modifier
- Butterfly Lorpen Larva: 600% modifier
- Butterfly Nere Larva: 600% modifier
- Butterfly Alben Larva: 700% modifier
- Butterfly Futura Larva: 800% modifier
- Butterfly Faleria Larva: 1400% modifier
- Butterfly Golden Larva: 1500% modifier
Silkworm and Bee Larva
In addition to butterflies, there are two additional larvae available to use in the Insect stage of terraformation that are required for machine crafting:
- Bee Larva (uncommon larva)
- Silkworm (uncommon larva)
Using the Incubator withuncommon larvae, you can produce bee and silkworm larvae. You cannot find silkworm or bee larvae; they are crafted only. Both the bee and silkworm insects are required to create special machines. Bees are necessary to make beehives and outdoor farms, while silkworms are used to create the silk generator.
Planet Crafter Bee larva recipe
The following is the blueprint recipe for crafting Bee Larva in the Incubator.
- Uncommon Larva x 1
- Mutagen x 1
- Fertilizer x 1
Once you’ve crafted a Beehive T2, you’ll have a natural source of bee larva. This version of the beehive has an equal chance to produce honey as bee larvae.
Planet Crafter Silkworm Larva recipe
The following is the blueprint recipe for crafting one Silkworm Larva in the Incubator.
- Uncommon Larva x 1
- Bacteria Sample x 1
- Fertilizer x 1
Unlike the Bee Larva, Silkworm Larva are never produced as a byproduct of a machine. Three silkworm larvae are needed to produce a Silk Generator, producing silk 100% of the time. If you intend on creating a silk farm, consider stockpiling uncommon larvae when you come across them to incubate the needed silkworms.
How to find rare exotic larvae in Planet Crafter
The exotic larvae, 5 in total, are incredibly rare spawning larvae. Many of these larvae seem to spawn in the newer biomes that emerged with the Insects & Waterfalls update, so the Meteor Fields, the Mushroom River, and the Giant Waterfall, but actually spawn in a variety of regions. Due to their rarity, you may never come across one casually.
Larvae, in general, will spawn within a close radius of you. So, if you run through an area, you will create a kind of larvae trail behind you. Armed with this concept, you can sweep an area and then backtrack over it to check if an exotic larva spawned. Be careful not to cover too much area or move too fast, or you may trigger larvae to despawn or miss potential larvae.
Butterfly Futura Larva
The Butterfly Futura Larva’sbright pinkluminous glow lends itself to being a product of theMushroom River. You can find this larva anywhere in the Mushroom River cavern, and because of its glow, it is fairly easy to spot during a quick sweep through the area. The Futura larva prefers to spawn only in the Mushroom River, unlike other exotics, which spawn in multiple biomes.
Butterfly Alben Larva
Alben Larva can be found in theWasteland, sometimes referred to as TheWhite Desert. Like the Futura larva, Alben prefers to spawn in just the Wasteland region and no other regions. This particular larvae can be tricky to find and has given many players a difficult time. We found success by keeping around the failed terraformer settlement and sweeping back and forth in the nearby area. The Alben larva is quite dark and will contrast with the light gray terrain of the Wastelands, so you should be able to sweep quite quickly through the area while keeping an eye out for adark bluish-blacklarva shape.
Butterfly Nere Larva
Butterfly Nere Larva is easily recognizable for itsbright-green and blackchrysalis. The Nere Larva spawns in theWaterfall biomeand will noticeably contrast against the sand if it spawns on the beach portion. It may be more challenging to spot if underwater, where visibility is lower, or on the grass where it blends in.
Butterfly Fiorente Larva
The Butterfly Fiorente Larva is another exotic larva that spawns in theWaterfall biome. Thisbrightpink and blacklarva can spawn in the exact location as the Nere Larva, including underwater. If searching underwater, keep an eye out for a larva with sharply-contrasting black and pinkish striping. We’ve experienced good spawn rates along the beach near the small inlet and under the water as well in this inlet for the Fiorente, Lorpen, and the Nere larvae.
Butterfly Lorpen Larva
Butterfly Lorpen is the third exotic butterfly that can spawn in multiple regions across the planet. One such location is theWaterfall biome. The Lorpen’sdark-blue and black stripedchrysalis contrasts easily with most terrain, especially sand, and can be easily noticed during the day.
The Nere, Fiorente, and Lorpen larvae can be found in additional locations to the Waterfall, including the Balcony (the small hidden area above the large Iridium cave), and some have reported seeing them spawn near the base of the Sand Falls. We preferred to hunt for these particular exotics at the Waterfalls area due to the relatively prefab-free terrain of the beach and especially under the water pool. Even at night, you can quickly see larva spawn and not mistake them for small rocks. This made larvae sweeping quick and productive.
Wrapping up our look at Planet Crafter’s insects and insect biomass
Reaching the Insects stage of terraformation is a big step in your planet’s evolution. Not only does this stage introduce a new unit that you will subsequently need to produce, but you are also introducing the first signs of life to your planet that aren’t plant-based. Building a collection of butterflies will beautify your planet and give you new goals to work toward in your terraformation journey.
