Kleex

"Kleex? Ah, your droid relieved the durkii of this insect pest!"

―Mon Julpa, to Jann Tosh^[2]

Kleex was the name attributed to a species of small, brown and yellow insects with a dark blue shell found on the planet of Tammuz-an. They were parasitic creatures that provoked an anger-inducing itching in their unwilling hosts. Because of a kleex infestation, the normally docile durkii reptiles could turn into aggressive monsters.

Biology and appearance

The kleex had egg-shaped, dark blue shells.

Kleex were small insects^[1] shaped like an egg cut in half vertically. Their back was protected by a smooth-looking, dark blue shell, and their distinctive anatomic features were all located on their underside. Kleex had four pairs of bifid legs and two pairs of antennae—one of which was located just above the creature's two lidded eyes and was more inconspicuous. The eyes themselves had a white sclera and a small, black pupil. Kleex displayed a segmented belly, the color of which alternated between brown and yellow. A kleex was approximately the same length as the hand of a Tammuz-an, a species of tall humanoids.^[2]

Behavior and intelligence

Parasitic by nature, the kleex often attached themselves to the tails of larger animals, such as the purple reptile known as durkii, and the itching they provoked would madden the host, causing it to twist and squirm.^[3] When picked in hand, a kleex would only react mildly, closing its eyes and shaking its legs gently.^[2]

History

R2-D2 eased a durkii maddened by parasitic kleex

The kleex evolved on the planet of Tammuz-an,^[2] a double-ringed world^[4] located in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy.^[5] One day, in 15 BBY,^[6] the Prince of Tammuz-an Mon Julpa and his Human friend Jann Tosh were thrown into a pit by Vizier Ko Zatec-Cha, who attempted to take the throne. In the pit, an angry, kleex-infested durkii had been released. Tosh's astromech droid R2-D2 quelled the creature's temper by removing the kleex from its scales. Once freed from the undesirable insects, the grateful reptile immediately stopped attacking,^[2] returning to its normally docile behavior.^[7] In 13 ABY,^[8] the holographic counterfeiter Liegeus Vorn compared three starships of the New Republic, dodging and twisting in space while trying to fire at enemy vessels, to a group of durkii maddened by parasitic kleex.^[3]

Behind the scenes

The kleex first appeared in "The New King," the sixth episode in the Star Wars: Droids animated television series,^[2] which aired on ABC on October 12, 1985.^[9] Those bugs and their parasitic behavior were later referenced in Planet of Twilight, a 1997 novel written by Barbara Hambly.^[3]