Lekgolo

Summary
The Lekgolo (Latin Ophis congregatio ) are a species of small colonial worm-like creatures that can join together to form purpose specific assemblages, such as Mgalekgolo.

Mgalekgolo are commonly referred to by Humans as Hunters. The cores of Scarabs are also seemingly made up of Lekgolo worms.

Every worm-like creature is an individual eel about 1.4 meters long, with its own neural central system. It is speculated that the Lekgolo's neural system can operate a small distance outside of its own body, explaining how the Mgalekgolo are a collective being.

These worms isolated Mendicant Bias from the rest of the Forerunner Dreadnought when it tried unsuccessfully to escape from High Charity.

The only time that individual Lekgolo can be seen in the Halo games is in Halo 3. If you shoot at a dead hunter's body, small eel-like creatures will fly out of the "corpse" and shrivel up.

See Mgalekgolo for more information on Lekgolo assemblages.

History
The Lekgolo evolved on their homeworld of Te and fed by burrowing through the earth of their planet. They came into contact with the Covenant when the alien collective landed in search of Forerunner artifacts.

They found only the remains of a space station which had once contained many artifacts, but was now bare due to the actions of the worms, which broke down and ate the devices. The Prophets viewed this as heresy, and declared war on the Lekgolo in what would later be called the Taming of the Hunters.

With the aid of an Arbiter, the Covenant were victorious and absorbed the defeated worms into their ranks. Groups of the aliens were given thick armor plates and Fuel Rod Cannons to help them serve the Covenant as Mgalekgolo. With the Covenant Civil War, the species was divided into those that supported the Covenant Loyalists and the Covenant Separatists.

The species' fate after the events of Halo 3 is unknown, although it is assumed that Te was not affected by the war.

Trivia

 * "Lekgolo" is Tswana for "one hundred", probably a reference to their hive-like physiology.
 * Lekgolo blood smells like burnt plastic.
 * Ophis means snake. Congregatio means assembly, society, union. Translated it means "assembly of snakes", no doubt alluding to their physical structure.
 * Lekgolo stopped Mendicant Bias from taking off in the Forerunner Dreadnought by short circuiting the ship's systems.
 * In Halo 3 a Scarab could be possibly made up of these 'worms' as they appear throughout the scarab.