Lancer

The Lancer is a large wasp-like Grimm. There is an even larger variation known as a Queen Lancer.

Appearance
The Lancer has a three-segmented black body with three sets of legs. It has a white armored mask and armor along its back. On the back of its abdomen the armor is in four overlapping plates. They have jagged pincers, antenna, four red transparent wings and a stinger.

A Queen Lancer is close in size to an Atlas cargo airship. Even the smaller Lancers are quite large, as their abdomen is approximately as long as Ruby Rose is tall.

History
In "Dread in the Air" a swarm of Lancers is witnessed by Weiss tearing apart a Mistral airship after already making another crash while flying through the floating islands of Lake Matsu. After destroying the second the swarm turns its attention onto the cargo airship that Weiss is on.

After a long chase, they are defeated by Weiss. However, a Queen Lancer shows up immediately after, drawn by the sounds of the battle. After a long fight, the Queen is defeated by Weiss's summoned Arma Gigas, but not before damaging the cargo airship causing it to crash.

Powers and Abilities
The Lancer is capable of firing its stinger while keeping it attached to its body by a tether. The stinger is strong enough to pull apart the wooden frame of a Mistral airship as well as breaching a metal hull. A Queen Lancer has the added ability to fire projectiles from its abdomen. They also showed more intelligence compared to other Grimm, as they engaged in a coordinated attack. Some of them held down a ship, while one of them sacrificed itself to take it down. Much like the insects they're based on, the Lancers likely have a hive-mind.

Trivia

 * The Lancers are foreshadowed in "Welcome to Haven" when the cargo airship Weiss has taken refuge on receives a distress call from an airship under attack by Grimm.