Ik'thik

The Ik'thik are a swarm of mantid found at the Dread Wastes, the Krasarang Wilds, and the Valley of the Four Winds. Their ultimate aim is to breach the Serpent's Spine and press forward into the Valley of the Four Winds, with Stoneplow being their first target, though they are later found assigned guard duty of two of the Kypari trees: Kypari Ik and Kypari Zar.

The Ik'thik first made themselves known when they struck out at the Shattered Convoy in the Krasarang Wilds, which had been sent from the town of Stoneplow to warn others about the mantid and request aid for an impending attack. During the attack, they dragged numerous Stoneplow Envoys off into the Forbidden Jungle.

In the Valley of the Four Winds, some of the Ik'thik managed to make their way over the wall, bringing with them the Sha's corruption. Eventually, the massive Ik'thik Colossus managed to batter down part of the wall, allowing the Ik'thik to stream into the Valley. Loon Mai and the Shado-pan, Yi-Mo Longbrow and the Wardens of Zhu, and Koro Mistwalker and the Red Crane Monks all banded together to combat the threat, bolstered by Mudmug's beer, and aided by Tauren Sunwalkers and Night Elf Sentinels. Some of the Ik'thik field officers were under the influence of the sha, and once Ken-Ken's Mask was presented to them, they returned to the capital to question the adjuncts about premature swarm, while the other leaders were dealt with by Clever Ashyo, Kang Bramblestaff, Ken-Ken, and Lin Tenderpaw. Ultimately, they were repelled by these combined forces, with the Colossus being slain by a disciple of Master Bruised Paw, it's corpse filling the breach in the Serpent's Spine.

In the Dread Wastes, the Ik'thik stand guard over Kypari Zar and Kypari Ik, maintaining contact with Shek'zeer. They also patrol the Stinging Trail, draining young kypari saplings of their amber before they are ready, a great crime in the eyes of the Klaxxi, who have since begun taking the amber for themselves. They may have also developed a method for ensuring that swarmborn venom, which normally diminishes with age, does not lose its potency as the young grow older. They also have their genemancers hard at work on dissecting and studying the local wildlife, as well as creating strange parasites that will change the animals into war beasts.

• During the beta, this swarm was known as Ik'thallik.