Help me with this new species

[Caledonian]

The vulca are a species i made up. They are four armed, egg laying humanoids that live inside volcanoes. Below is a small ref sheet but Id like more proper art. So, art and ideas are very welcome.

its important to first know the vulca are metal based rather than carbon based and die when they cool down to solidifying temperature.

vulca are mainly miners and smiths that are humanoid in the basis with most significant difference their extra set of arms. The upper arms are rather muscular with hands with 3 fingers each. These arms are used in heavy labour. The lower arms are more refined with hands with 6 fingers each. These arms are used for detailed or more careful tasks. 

Their legs resemble those of humans except for the foot, which has claws for vulca living far upwards in the volcanic hills. This gives better grip on rocky surfaces. Vulca living deep down have hooves that are more heat resistant. 

Their genitalia are positioned inside the body and only become visible during reproduction. This isnt often since vulca are asexual by nature. They only reproduce because they understand its needed in order not to go extinct. Despite being egg laying they are mamals and the females grow a pair of breasts in their puberty, which hits when they are about 50 human years. When expecting a child a second pair will develop below the first set. Vulca usually get one child a time but they often adopt children that lost their parents in trading or mining accidents. 

Their faces look pretty human. if they keep their eyes and mouth closed that is.  They have narrow eyes with small pupils and no iris. The eyewhites are glowing similarly to their tongues. Their mouths open wide and are equipped with teeth strong enough to bite through diamond. Their tongue is white glowing in heat and looks segmented, long and pointy. Ears are pointy as well.

their horns are made of the same stuff as their teeth and form like a helmet above their heads.

they have no hair at all and their skin is like red glowing metal. 

Despite being strong and practically invulnerable to other species the vulca are peaceful and refuse to participate in warfare. (Also because of the risk of cooling down and dying)

[Caledonian]

I forgot a detail! They live in a hive structure and wear armbands that indicate their ranks. Position and type as well as amound all have different meanings

[Caledonian]

1 hour ago, Rhíulchabán said:

I can't into art, so no help on that end, but I think a cool alteration you could do is instead of giving them armbands to show rank, have them have insect like eyes (since they already strike me as somewhat insectoid to begin with). These eyes look like insect eyes, but they are made of crystal which are different colors, and the different colors are what indicate rank.

If I was creating them as a D&D monster race that's what I'd do, since armbands seem kind of like an odd "synthetic" indication of rank in a seemingly naturally stratified society.

While I adore this idea and will definitely look furrher into 'natural ranking' like that, my current idea is that young vulca are monitored from their hatching on to later be ceremonially placed in the "guild" that fits them best. The armbands are then given to the youngling, which is free to go and explore the tunnels and visit other volcanoes to learn and perhaps find a partner to return after a certain time and fulfill their tasks in the guild. Or they could stay in another colony and build a life then. The armbands then also function as a reminder of their origin.

my main vulca character is Skirr son of Rigkit of the mining guild. Skirr himself is 75 human years old and about to be placed in a guild.

i could build in some natural ranking though, like some may be natural leaders and some might be workers etc. 

[Caledonian]

Vulca dont have a lot of contact with other species. Their main trading partners are the Summer Angli that travel to meeting points in deserts. Their bonds are strong and vulca children meet with angli children to protect their friend's families the best they can. often to far after the original anglic has passed. Vulca live very long lives, angli do not. 

I do not want to go esthetically overboard on this species but i love your idea,,, so now im trying to think of how to make your idea not look gross or grotesque.

[Faust]

In certain social insect orders, notably higher bees, the queen of a hive gives off chemicals that retard the sexual development of the other females around her. Should the queen die or become enfeebled, the production of this chemical ceases (or is reduced) indicating that she is becoming less fertile. Because there's less or none of the chemical around, the sexual maturation of the rest of the hive kicks back into gear and it won't be long before it has a new queen. This prevents a hive from becoming overpopulated, but leaves a safety measure in place in case the queen suffers an accident.

[Caledonian]

On 1/4/2016 at 5:47 PM, Faust said:

In certain social insect orders, notably higher bees, the queen of a hive gives off chemicals that retard the sexual development of the other females around her. Should the queen die or become enfeebled, the production of this chemical ceases (or is reduced) indicating that she is becoming less fertile. Because there's less or none of the chemical around, the sexual maturation of the rest of the hive kicks back into gear and it won't be long before it has a new queen. This prevents a hive from becoming overpopulated, but leaves a safety measure in place in case the queen suffers an accident.

this is true, and I've thought about it. but Vulca are mammals and I just can't see being dependent on just one female for their reproduction. I'm not even sure if the Colonies have leaders like that at all.
Vulca lay eggs. (origionally bright red and glowing) those are brought to nursery caves untill they hatch after about a year and a half (the shell will have became black and weaker by now). like turtles the heat the egg is in determines the gender of the later child, so nursery caves strictly control the heat in certain rooms to prevent the hatching of too much males/females. 

[Faust]

On 16 January 2016 at 0:44 PM, Caledonian said:

this is true, and I've thought about it. but Vulca are mammals and I just can't see being dependent on just one female for their reproduction. I'm not even sure if the Colonies have leaders like that at all.

Well, they don't really have to be reliant on a single female to benefit from this kind of physiology. My thoughts were that it would explain the low birth rate genetically if all females gave off the pheromone and the quantity of pheromone on the air reduced species birth rates as a whole. This would mean that the fertility of the species would be directly linked to the amount of overcrowding they are experiencing at any one point.

That said, I would say that creating a mammalian species that lays eggs is unusual enough. I can name one egg-laying mammal - the duck-billed platypus - and that doesn't have mammary glands as such, it actually sweats milk (the mammary being basically an overgrown sebaceous gland with a modified purpose).

But it's your species and entirely up to you.

[Caledonian]

On 1/17/2016 at 2:47 PM, Faust said:

Well, they don't really have to be reliant on a single female to benefit from this kind of physiology. My thoughts were that it would explain the low birth rate genetically if all females gave off the pheromone and the quantity of pheromone on the air reduced species birth rates as a whole. This would mean that the fertility of the species would be directly linked to the amount of overcrowding they are experiencing at any one point.

That said, I would say that creating a mammalian species that lays eggs is unusual enough. I can name one egg-laying mammal - the duck-billed platypus - and that doesn't have mammary glands as such, it actually sweats milk (the mammary being basically an overgrown sebaceous gland with a modified purpose).

But it's your species and entirely up to you.

oh! i misunderstood you! I will look into this!