Another of the large Cipa'nid insects, the axrizh are considered a scourge even on the home planet.  Not unlike the grass hoppers found on many worlds, the axrizh grow up to four meters long in their docile state; the insects are actually quite harmless as individuals.  And in more rural areas are at times kept as pets.  Axrizh are rarely eaten, considered more an annoyance than a hardy meal.  But it is when they gather in numbers when the axrizh become the great menace of lore.  As their numbers grow and competition for food is heightened, they undergo a transformation.  Over the course of a week, each individual can grow an extra two meter in length, the head grows and changes shape, the mandibles grow longer, the legs get longer and stronger and the wingspan spreads.  And then it gets ugly.  A swarm of axrizh can expand to cover an entire village in a matter of days.  And as the swarm encounters more axrizh, the swarm expands, all the while gobbling every bit of organic material in their path.  Plants, live stock, people and even injured axrizh fall prey to the insatiable swarm.  They move in unison across the landscape until they either, die off, reach the sea, or other wise run out of food to maintain the frenzy.  On Cipanid the swarms are rare, as the Cipa’ci have insecticides at the ready to fend off a frenzy.  But as they are carried off world as pets, and their numbers expand uncontrolled hapless worlds are left at the mercy of the omnivorous menace as clouds of wanton destruction wipe out crops and people alike.