Dear god, what is that disgusting creature.
I think those race ideas are great. We can say the Technophiliac Insectoids are or were leagues ahead of humans in terms of technological advancement, and upon forming some sort of peace treaty with them humans were able to obtain greater technology and further their space operations. Maybe the insectoids had a big hand in the creation of the portals?
As for the Psionic Humanoids, could it be that their race primarily communicates through telepathy, but to read the mind of a human or other race, they require a touch. Maybe there's a bunch of humans who, for this reason, don't feel like they can trust the Psionic Humanoids, and so we have tension and conflict. Maybe it's just minimal, maybe it's a huge thing.
More ideas?