Author Notes - Some families, alas, only have a single member. The Awrapnid is the first of these single-membered families, with only the Arachnode. Obviously, these entries will be shorter than the others, but I will see what I can do.

This one in particular was a little interesting just because of the whole 'ambisexual' thing. Seriously, how on Earth did Nintendo get away with them using the word 'gynandry', a word with inherent sexual meaning? Then again, the entry for the Sandbelching Meerslug uses the word 'anus', which may not be inherently sexual but is still more than I expect a G rated game to get away with.

AWRAPNID FAMILY

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropod
Class: Pseudoinsecta
Order: Arapnida

EMILY'S PERSONAL NOTES

Oh my god, the dang thing is right there. Why can't you…?! Oh great, now you've been eaten. I THREW YOU RIGHT AT THE DANG THING! HOW DID YOU END UP CAUGHT IN THE WEB?! Look, just listen to my whistle and… I WHISTLED AT YOU! Oh for god's… OKAY, use Winged Pikmin only. Or you will tear your hair out dealing with them and their webs.

On a less FRUSTRATING note, I once tried to test just how sticky their webs were. Turns out they can receive a lot of punishment. In order to properly test it, I decided to use my own body. That, er, didn't end well. On the bright side, I found out that their bite isn't venomous. See, it's funny because I would be dead if it was.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCES

Clavo fictusphera (Arachnode) is a close relative of the members of both the Arachorb (see 'Arachorb') and the Dweevil (see 'Dweevil') families, evident in its spider-like appearance. Unlike the aforementioned families, however, the Arachnode has the correct number of legs to be considered properly spider-like.

Arachnodes have two basic states - dormant, and active. When it is dormant, it appears to be nothing more than a medium-sized cone-shaped object. It is almost entirely black aside from a series of thin yellow rings that go around its entire body. The number of lines can vary between three to five, but will typically be four.

When an Arachnode is active, however, its true appearance becomes clear. The cone-like shape is revealed to be its eight long, curved legs wrapped tightly around its body. Its actual body is a near perfect sphere, covered in a collection of yellow spots. Each spot has a yellow ring that surrounds it, and most spots are not the same size as each other. A jagged yellow line travels from the base of its legs all the way around its body and back; this yellow line is actually the jaw of this creature.

HABITAT

Arachnodes make their home in temperate forests, such as the Twilight River. They typically choose locations where flying insects or Winged Pikmin are fairly common. They will always be seen on a web of their own creation, which are usually built between two branches, shoots, or cliff sides. This web is made of a sticky and silky substance that they excrete from their bodies into a thin string. They have never been seen off their webs outside of mating season.

DIET AND DEFENCES

Much like real arachnids, Arachnodes create their webs for the purposes of catching prey. They feast primarily on flying insects such as flies, Shearwigs (see 'Mandiblard'), and Scornets (see 'Huntinpeck'), though they will gladly feast upon any airborne creature that stumbles into their sticky webs, such as Snitchbugs (see 'Scarapnid). In one recorded case, one even devoured a very unlucky Puffy Blowhog (see 'Blowhogs'). They will also not hesitate to eat any Pikmin that fly or are thrown into the web, and in fact it appears that Winged Pikmin are their favourite food of all.

Once its prey is caught in its web, its body will open up down the middle to reveal a gigantic set of jaws, and it will devour its prey in seconds. It can devour even the full-grown Puffy Blowhog in a matter of a single minute if it gets the opportunity. Any prey stuck in its webs are not doomed, however. Pikmin in particular are easily capable of freeing themselves from the sticky trap, but will usually panic upon getting stuck. If they are whistled to while they are trapped, it may be enough to calm them down and get them free. Winged Pikmin are at the highest risk, since the webs are often built over paths they take when carrying back objects.

It appears that these webs need constant maintenance, for when the Arachnode owner dies the web will fall apart almost immediately.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Arachnodes are solitary creatures. Interactions between specimens outside of mating season are quite rare. When two Arachnodes do meet outside of mating season, they will attempt to scare off the other with intimidation tactics. Note that this could only be seen in a controlled environment, since Arachnodes have never been seen leaving their webs in most circumstances, so there is a possibility that this behaviour is not typical and just the result of forcing an interaction that rarely happens. Of course, there is still the possibility that these interactions do happen naturally and just haven't been seen yet.

COURTING AND CHILDREARING

Arachnodes are one of the few species on this planet that are ambisexual, i.e. they have genitalia corresponding to both male and female parts. More specifically, they appear to have gynandry; ovaries are present in the creature, but the external genitalia resembles that more typical of male creatures, meaning that Arachnodes have female pseudohermaphroditism.

This appears to aid the creature in reproduction, for it doesn't need to worry about tracking down a partner of the opposite sex and can easily mate with whatever other specimen they find. When mating season arrives, they will embark from their webs and search through the forest for another Arachnode. When two Arachnodes meet, they will build a web together and mate. Once mating is done, the bigger Arachnode will eat the smaller one to give its eggs extra nutrients.

It will lay its eggs in its web, and will defend them with every inch of its strength. When the eggs hatch after approximately two weeks, the near-microscopic offspring will grow stronger by eating each other until only about ten to twenty remain. The mature Arachnode will then allow its own offspring to eat it, and the offspring who survive the whole ordeal will spread out and find their own places to make their webs.

The ambisexual nature of the Arachnodes has led to a theory that they are in fact two separate specimens of opposite sex who are attached. A single-sexed specimen with only four legs has never been found, and they are incapable of breeding on their own so in order for this theory to be true, the Arachnodes would need to be permanently attached since birth. This holds some weight, however, for the number of offspring can suddenly be split in half a few days in, leading to a possibility that they do indeed join together. Until a single-sexed specimen is found, however, this shall remain speculative.

OTHER NOTES

The silk of their webs has been tested to be extremely strong, but requiring constant repair. A test was performed with an Armoured Cannon Beetle (see 'Lithopod'), and the web was able to sustain after getting hit with a boulder fired at maximum power. If the Arachnode has enough time to repair it, it can resist another hit. However, if it fails to repair its web in time, a second Lithopod boulder will easily destroy it.

NOTES FROM OTHER RESEARCHERS

Arachnode -

This creature's most dangerous weapon isn't its jaws, it's its web. Anything that touches the web, such as thrown Pikmin, gets stuck and must be quickly rescued before it's eaten. I've seen its web trap Winged Pikmin and withstand blows from Rock Pikmin, so those fibres must be tougher than they look. If we could build a suit out of them, I could be that tough too! - Alph

Be quick and you can whistle to get Pikmin unstuck from its webs. If you're feeling daring, you can touch the web to lure the arachnode away, but if you're on the wrong side, you'll see your Pikmin get eaten in front of you. - Brittany

This is a tricky one. We can't charge until it moves, but it doesn't move unless it senses prey in its web. Since I mustn't risk the lives of my squad, there's no other choice. I must volunteer to be the bait! Good luck, troops! My life will be in your hands! - Captain Charlie (Emily's Notes: Okay, this guy is awesome.)

Author Notes - Emily's personal notes on this damn thing are exactly what I say whenever I try to fight them. I swear they were less annoying in the non-deluxe version, but whenever I use non-Wingeds they ALWAYS get caught and eaten.

Olimar's notes for the thing implies that they might be two specimens attached. I struggled to decide which one I wanted to go with, so I settled for heavily implying that this wasn't the case but not exactly an impossibility. Oh boy, let's hope I can be more decisive in the future. Regardless, hope you've got something to ground yourself with, cos we're dealing with the Blowhogs next.