Kaferian

Elysian Council, left — Membership of the Elysian Council, including a Kaferian (far right)

The Kaferians were a sapient insectoid species native to the planet Tau Ceti III, also known as Kaferia. (Star Trek Maps; The Worlds of the Federation)

Though allied with the Federation since its founding, their world was not actually a member until the late 2370s. However, Kaferians served in Starfleet as far back as the early 23rd century. (ENT novel: Tower of Babel; DTI novel: Watching the Clock; Star Trek: Star Charts; DSC novel: Fear Itself)

Biology and appearance[]

Semi-humanoid arthropods, Kaferians were generally tall, with lean and chitinous bodies; their heads were mantis-like, triangular and wide, with bulbous, multifaceted eyes, and sets of large and small mandibles; their hands were clawed. Kaferians had several similar, yet distinct morphologies; they were essentially bipedal, though some had a second set of arms, resulting in six limbs rather than four. Some Kaferians had wings, others did not. Their coloration could vary, ranging from red and orange to green or yellowish, grey, or even blue or violet-hued. (The Worlds of the Federation; DSC novel: Fear Itself; Seekers novel: Second Nature; DS9 novel: Disavowed; TAS: "The Time Trap")

Kaferians did not consume flesh, and their diet consisted almost entirely of fruit sugars. Despite this, their appearance could sometimes be interpreted as "predatory" by Kelpiens and other humanoids with an atavistic fear response towards insects. (Seekers novel: Second Nature; DSC novel: Fear Itself)

Kaferians slept in hibernation sacs, cocoons they spun each night. This cocoon contained a regenerative jelly which repaired any damage to an individual's exoskeleton, keeping the plates and ligaments supple, and purged bacteria and contaminants from their spiracles and bloodstream. When a Kaferian awoke and emerged from their hibernation sac, the pungent-smelling jelly would pour out, resulting in an odorous, sticky mess that members of other species found disconcerting. (Seekers novel: Second Nature)

Culture[]

Kaferians were reputed as extremely friendly, welcoming, and helpful. Unlike many insect-based species, Kaferians did not have a hive-mind or similar type of hierarchy within their culture. Their society was based largely on the concepts of individual agency and freedom of choice. They were not overly territorial, open to sharing their homeworld and star system with other species, provided they were peaceful. (The Worlds of the Federation; DTI novel: Watching the Clock; ENT novel: Tower of Babel)

While there were always exceptions to the norm within any culture, Kaferian individualism was not typically narcissistic or greedy; instead, Kaferians sought to ensure that all members of their society were able to thrive and be their best. This attitude resulted in voluntary cooperation for mutual benefit, which was sometimes mistaken by outsiders for a communal mindset. It also engendered a strong drive to help others, which many Kaferians, especially those that joined Starfleet, extended to other species as well. (Star Trek: Pendragon)

Early Kaferian dwellings were in the form of mounds built from soil and gathered plant materials; these structures sometimes reached upwards of 300 meters in height, and were interconnected by slideways spun by the Kaferians' own bodies. (The Worlds of the Federation)

As their society developed, Kaferian cities spread out from around those initial dwellings. Though by the 2200s they mostly lived in artificially-constructed buildings, Kaferians remained adept at utilizing their environment responsibly and sustainably, recycling material whenever possible. Even in the 24th century, modern versions of their earthen mounds were used in rural areas and agrarian communities. (Star Trek: Pendragon)

Language and nomenclature[]

Their indigenous language, Tau Cetian, was a series of rapid clicks, including frequencies in an ultraharmonic range, unpronounceable by most other species. However, both it and its written form were easily handled by the universal translator. Absent a UT, Kaferians would use vocorders to communicate with members of other species, these were usually shoulder-mounted, or worn at the collar. (Seekers novel: Second Nature; DSC: "An Obol for Charon"; TOS novel: The Antares Maelstrom)

As such, they were content to use names given to them by other species when dealing with offworlders. The name "Kaferian" itself was given to the species by humans who made first contact with them in the late 21st or early 22nd century, after the Kaferi family who had first surveyed the Tau Ceti system and named the planets Inner Kaferia and Outer Kaferia. (ENT novel: Tower of Babel; DTI novel: Watching the Clock)

The first Vulcan explorers to encounter the Kaferians many years earlier had called them slor-savas-yokulsu, or "sweet fruit-eaters." (Star Trek: Pendragon)

Science and technology[]

Kaferian science was quite accomplished in the field of genetics. Kaferian geneticists were skilled in adapting or engineering flora and fauna for a variety of conditions and applications. Much of Kaferia's interstellar trade centered around specially-designed foodstuffs for colony worlds. (The Worlds of the Federation)

They also excelled in mineralogy, sculpting and building with the various ores, crystals and gemstones found on their planet, some of which originated elsewhere in their system, and were deposited by the numerous asteroid and meteorite impacts Kaferia on a regular basis. Kaferian currency was crystallized out of such gemstones, including pure sapphires. (The Worlds of the Federation; TOS novel: Enterprise: The First Adventure)

Background[]

The existence of Kaferians was a originally a fannish extrapolation based solely on the Kaferian apples conjured by Gary Mitchell in TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
Kaferians were first described as an insectoid species in Star Trek Maps, which was expanded upon by The Worlds of the Federation. Drawings of Kaferians from the latter book and the FASA RPG were occasionally used in okudagrams during Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The novel Fear Itself describes Kaferians as kind and peaceful, though still a "predator" species with large mandibles, while the majority of other Star Trek novels present them as herbivorous fruit-eaters who do not consume flesh. The TNG novel: Collateral Damage goes on to describe their mandibles as small, evolved for extracting fruit juices and pulp. This article tries to reconcile the two descriptions.
Trek novelist Christopher L. Bennett is on record as believing the unnamed representative of a four-armed insectoid species seen in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode The Time Trap was a Kaferian. Novels describing the species as being six-limbed seem to follow this assumption, though others describe them as having two arms and two legs. Star Trek: Pendragon attributes this to morphological differences within the species.

External links[]

Kaferian article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.