Disclaimer: And I'll drone on and on...

Note: I won't talk about Hammer Bros., Koopatrols, Buster Beetles, and guys like that because they are regiments of Bowser's army, not separate species.

Note 2: To answer a reviewer's question, Buzzy Beetles are immune to flame only because they place their bellies near the ground so as to avoid fireballs. The shell is fireproof, but the belly is not. Buster Beetles (a special group of Buzzy Beetles) spend so much time upright as they fling things that they leave their bellies exposed for extended periods of time. They can easily be knocked down with fireballs.

Lesson 5: The Beetle-shells

Welcome back to biology class. Today, you will be learning about Buzzy Beetles and their relatives, which are sometimes collectively called the Beetle-shells. They are the Buzzy Beetles, Spike Tops, Spinies, and their various Para-forms. Here's all the taxonomy they share in common:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Reptilia

Subclass: Anapsida

Order: Testudines

Suborder: Psychira

Family: Coleoptidae

The Buzzy Beetles and Spike Tops belong in the same genus, while the Spinies only share their family. Here are their separate classifications. Please write them down!

Buzzy Beetle

Genus: Adamant

Species: adamant

Subspecies: adamant

Parabeetle

Genus: Adamant

Species: adamant

Subspecies: pteryx

Spike Top

Genus: Adamant

Species: cera

Subspecies: adamant

Para-Spike Top

Genus: Adamant

Species: cera

Subspecies: pteryx

Spiny

Genus: Cerasphere

Species: repamatoku

The Buzzy Beetles' and the Spike Tops' genera are all Adamant because of their extremely hard and inflexible shells. The word adamant is an adjective meaning extremely hard, and those shells fit the description. The Spiny's shell, meanwhile, is flexible and can roll into a ball.

The Buzzy Beetles and Spike Tops have a small system of naming for their species and subspecies. All Buzzy Beetles have a species of adamant (because their ones who named them were lazy), and all Spike Tops have a species of cera (as their shells are topped with a large, hard horn). All the normal such members of the genus Adamant have a subspecies of adamant (again, because of laziness), and all the Para-forms have pteryx as a subspecies (because that's Greek for wing).

The Spiny's a different story altogether. Its genus is Cerasphere because that means "horn ball", and Spinies can roll themselves up into balls of spikes. These balls are also known as Spiny Eggs. Those are not eggs: they are actually the rolled-up forms. The things that Spinies lay are called eggs, quite simply.

The Spiny's species is repamatoku because that is the Lakitan word for "throwing ball", and Lakitus are highly trained in throwing Spinies. Indeed, they have been with each other for so long that Cloudsheep (what Lakitus ride on) have developed a hollow in their backs for Lakitus and Spinies. By the way, Cloudsheep aren't easily pierced by Spiny spikes.

And with that, class is dismissed. Please write down everything that I've told you, as you'll need it for midterms! Yes, I know they're months away, but it doesn't hurt to prepare. Next day, I will talk about the various types of Piranha Plants. Have a great day with your other teachers!