Author Notes - Sooo... I have a minor confession to make. Don't worry, it's nothing serious! But I was playing a bit of the Pikmin 2 ROM hack Pikmin 251, and while I'm no good at it (only partially due to my skill level, I swear), it has a few new enemies that - seemingly - don't have any scientific notes on them. Granted, the more casual 'Olimar's Observations' are still a lot of fun, but still. So, I've been a little tempted to include those new creatures. I'm not sure if I will, but if I decide to, I might need to ask permission first.

Oh, AND don't forget about the new critters in the upcoming fan game/mod: Pikmin New Fortune! Which look absolutely awesome by the way. Sounds like they WILL have scientific notes, but I still wouldn't mind expanding on their entries too. Again, if I'm allowed to.

Speaking of new creatures, if we ever get a Pikmin 4 (which is looking more and more unlikely every passing year, sad face), I will update the necessary families to include the new guys. Heck, if Pikmin Bloom ends up including some new beasts they'll probably go in here too. I kinda hope so, actually, cos these are really fun to write.

BURROW-NIT FAMILY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Anthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Durumtesta

EMILY'S PERSONAL NOTES

Those hard shells of the Joustmites don't seem to be attached to the creature, so… do you think I could remove it and turn it into a helmet without hurting them? I don't wanna actually hurt the creatures, you see, at least while they're alive. Dissecting isn't so bad, seeing as the creature is already dead.

The proboscis of this family reminds me of someone… ah, that would be it. My big sister Felicity. She was always sticking her proboscis into my business. She never left me alone to do my own thing. And it was never to anyone else either! I think she did it just to annoy me and me alone. Well, joke's on her. Now I'm gonna be world - no, GALAXY - famous for my zoologist research on this delightfully bizarre ecosystem. Ha! TAKE THAT, SISTERS!

I feel the need to get famous to validate myself. That… that cannot be healthy.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCES

All members of the Burrow-nit family resemble insect-like creatures who hide inside a hard shell. The main difference between species is what part of the body the hard shell covers - for species with the common name 'Burrow-nit', the shell covers the back, while species with the common name 'Joustmite' have the shell cover the front instead. Regardless of where the shell is located, they all have highly-visible eye-like patterns.

Trilobitins reclusiva (Cloaking Burrow-nit) has a white, slab-like body, only half of which is visible outside of its defensive shell. On the front of its white body is a pair of small red compound eyes, and a reddish proboscis. This proboscis is capable of extending to more than twice its normal size when attacking. Underneath its compound eyes are two pairs of small red legs, with which it scutters across the ground. Its hard shell covers more than half its body, and has a distinctive dark blue colour. The eye-like pattern consists of big, thick crimson rings with a small pupil-like white dot in the middle.

Trilobitins reversa (Joustmite) and Trilobitins reversa volanti (Flightly Joustmite), as to be expected for two subspecies, are very similar in appearance. The front end of their bodies are black, but otherwise resemble the Burrow-nit's. Their 'helmets' vaguely resemble the heads of certain insects such as those in the Dynastinae subfamily (i.e. Rhino Beetles), though with a much smaller 'horn' and a ridge going down the middle on the top. The helmet is a bluish-green colour with pink ridges on the regular Joustmite, while the Flighty Joustmite is a striking red with yellow ridges instead. The eye-like markings are located at the back near the top ridge, and the colour varies between the two subspecies. The grounded Joustmite's markings are orange on the outside and yellow on the inside, with a black dot resembling a pupil, while their flying counterpart's markings are red and white.

Their soft white behinds resemble the bodies of the Burrow-nits far more than the fronts, and are left exposed to the elements. The regular Joustmite's wings have atrophied to the point of being near impossible to see, but the Flighty Joustmite - as its name suggests - still has usable fly-like wings tucked underneath its shell. Unlike the Burrow-nits, who live inside their shells, Joustmites merely wear theirs as helmets and they are easily removable after death.

HABITAT

The shells of the Cloaking Burrow-nit keep it safe from the elements, so it can live in a wide variety of climates. They make their homes in arctic areas such as the Valley of Repose, and in more temperate forests like the Awakening Wood or Wistful Wild. Their shells can cause them to easily overheat, however, so they stay out of tropical areas like the Perplexing Pool. They also live quite plentifully underground, but typically only inhabit caverns with a dirt- or carpet-like flooring so they can easily burrow into it.

Joustmites and their Flighty counterparts typically do not share habitats. Regular Joustmites prefer the coldness and soft snow of arctic areas, easily found throughout the Distant Tundra and other such areas. They have, however, been spotted in the Thirsty Desert, though it doesn't appear that they arrived here by choice but instead by force, seeing as they do not cope with warm temperatures very well.

Flighty Joustmites, however, do not fly well in cold temperatures and so only live in warmer areas. The temperate weather suffices for them, but they thrive best in tropical areas. They may also be found hiding in dens not too deep underground, but they never delve too deep because their wings do not work as well when in the cold underground.

DIET AND DEFENCES

Whether the helmet is on the front or the back, all members of this family hunt in the same way. They burrow themselves into the ground until only their shell is visible. Any unsuspecting insects that pass by are in for the shock of their life when the Burrow-nit or Joustmite exposes itself and pierces its prey with its sharp and extendable proboscis.

Only the Flighty Joustmite has shown a different method of hunting. While it crawls around on the ground at first, it will take to the air if its prey proves to be troublesome. It hovers in place a few feet above the ground, and is capable of extending its proboscis to reach whatever crawls nearby. If it misses its prey, however, it will get its proboscis stuck in the ground for a few seconds. It doesn't take long for it to get unstuck, but this can easily leave it vulnerable to attack from behind.

The shells of this family have proven to be very, very resistant to attack. Multiple tests have proven that the waxy shells can handle 40,000psi worth of force, meaning they're essentially as tough as steel. This is thanks to waxy secretions from its pores, which can absorb and redirect any shock it receives, functioning more-or-less as a proper shock absorber not unlike those in real tanks.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Members of the Burrow-nit family typically stay in small groups, consisting of couples and - much more rarely - trios. They do not necessarily have to be in close contact with each other, but if one encounters one member of this family, another of its species is sure to be nearby. The members of these groups may be together for mating purposes, but this is not always the case. Often times, it appears that these groups are actually same-sex groups of 'friends' who work together to hunt prey and feed each other.

It is a common misconception that the members of this family exhibit aggressive behaviours when they encounter other members of their species. This is due to them 'fighting' each other regularly, using their proboscises like javelins. What appears to be fighting is merely a game between two specimens who know each other very well, and injuries from this game are rare and minor. Real fighting amongst specimens is surprisingly rare, as they appear to understand that it's better to team-up and work together than battle it out.

When they do fight, usually for a mate, it is done in a very similar manner to this game. This is likely where the misconception comes from. The main difference being, of course, that real fighting is far more likely to lead to life-threatening injuries.

COURTING AND CHILDREARING

When a male and a female Burrow-nit or Joustmite meet, they will lock their proboscises together in a manner highly resembling a sword fight. It may look aggressive, but it is actually merely a dance that hardly ever results in injury. The goal is for them to find a mate who shares their dance routine, in a manner best compared to whales who mate based on having the same frequencies. While most of their dances can be seen on several different specimens, there are occasionally some who - much like the 52-Hertz Whale - have dance routines that do not match those of other specimens, meaning they never find a mate.

Once two Burrow-nits or Joustmites find a mate who shares their dance routine, mating begins almost immediately. After only a week, the female will dig a small burrow for her eggs and lay them inside of it. Burrow-nits on average have ten eggs, while Joustmites only lay seven eggs on average. When the eggs hatch into larvae, both parents work together to raise and feed them. After a month, the larvae are fully mature and capable of fending for themselves. It takes approximately two weeks for the wings of Flighty Joustmites to start growing, and they fully form at three weeks.

For Burrow-nits, they are born with their shells and they grow with them as they age, never needing to replace them. Joustmites, however, need to shed and reform their shells regularly as they grow. Because of this, the shells of growing Joustmites are never nearly as tough as those of mature Joustmites, so they stay closer to their parents until their shells are able to fully form.

Like several other species on this planet, crossbreeding is very much possible between Joustmites and their Flighty subspecies. Of course, the severely different climates of their habitats mean this is only possible in captivity. They make little distinction between the subspecies, and will court in much the same way. If their dance routines happen to overlap, they will mate. Offspring of such crossbreeding have an approximately 25% chance of growing usable wings, with 50% growing wings that cannot lift them off the ground, and the last 25% not growing wings at all.

Members of this family mate for life, unusually among insect-like creatures such as themselves. If their mate dies before they do, they will be buried in dirt and/or leaves. If the offspring are yet to mature, they will use the leftover shell as shelter. If you find a buried Burrow-nit or Joustmite shell with another living specimen nearby, it is best to leave it alone, since forlorn lovers will react to theft quite violently. Buried shells without any nearby living members are safe to dig up and collect, as long as you check for other possible residents first.

OTHER NOTES

Leftover shells from dead members of this family are often used by many other kinds of small species, usually as a home. Members of the Mandiblard family (see 'Mandiblard') most commonly use these old shells to protect themselves from surface creatures. Living mates of these dead specimens will typically be okay with this, but if certain species try to take the shells to use as a helmet for themselves, the living mates will react very, very poorly.

NOTES FROM OTHER RESEARCHERS

Cloaking Burrow-nit -

On one hand, being vulnerable on the front is a major weakness. On the other, that means you have to face it head-on in order to win! And that mouth-nose-spike-thing can skewer right through an innocent Pikmin before you know it! So, it balances out. - Alph

It is a bit more modest than the other ones. This one at least has the common decency to cover up its behind! Except now we have to face the dang thing head-on to attack, and that leads to a risk of becoming a kebab. Actually, maybe they SHOULD have bare behinds. - Brittany

Protecting only your behind is a rather specialised strategy, to say the least. Yes, you are impervious from attacks from behind, but charging into a battle could easily lead to your defeat. Regardless, surprise attacks from the back certainly won't do a thing to you! - Captain Charlie

Joustmite -

That shell is as hard as they come, so a frontal charge is no good. (You're liable to get skewered on its needle, anyway.) Try throwing Pikmin so they land on its soft, unprotected hind parts instead. Talk about a design oversight! - Alph

Ever seen a huge face buried in the ground? I have now. At first, I wondered where the rest of it might be. Would we find a buried fist? A buried knee? A buried belly button? Is it good or bad that we never will? - Brittany

This greenish-blue soldier came prepared with a solid offence and defence. There's not so much plating at the back, but that doesn't matter if you never plan to show the enemy your back. I salute its courage. - Captain Charlie

Flighty Joustmite -

The red, helmet-like shell covering its head is an effective defence, I'll give it that. Like the green model, it burrows underground and comes up to attack, but this one has enough lift capacity to fly when threatened. It'll try to divebomb you from the air and impale you on its stinger, but if you can dodge that, it'll get stuck and open itself up to attacks. - Alph

I'm supposed to take a squad and charge it from the back while it's poking uselessly at the Rock Pikmin, but I get distracted every time at how cute the Rock Pikmin look rolling around with their stubby bodies. - Brittany

I'm not as impressed with the red bug as I was with the green one. Yes, it's got the plating of a tank and the harpoon of a fisherman, but inside beats the heart of a coward. What kind of soldier flies away instead of facing its enemy on solid ground? Even the Pikmin are made of sterner stuff. - Captain Charlie

Author Notes - I genuinely did not realise that Joustmites and their Flighty counterparts couldn't be found in the same areas until I did this. I just kinda assumed they could. But a quick reading through Pikipedia (which helps immensely when writing this) revealed to me that they are never found in the same areas. In fact, the grounded Joustmites are almost always in colder areas compared to their Flighty counterparts, the Thirsty Desert in Mission Mode not withstanding.

And that brings us to the end of the 'B'-families. The next entry is gonna be a little interesting, to say the least. I'll just say this... don't actually try to eat them. Despite their names, they certainly do not taste like candy...