Armored Cannon Beetle

The Armored Cannon Beetle is the adult stage of an Armored Cannon Beetle Larva. The beetle is first discovered during Olimar's first visit to the Pikmin Planet; during his second trip, only the larval stage is present. It is a large, black, almost shiny beetle with a thick, rounded shell of armor and a blowhole above its head. It attacks by inhaling through this opening and subsequently firing a rolling rock from its mouth that travels in a straight path, which crushes small creatures, including Pikmin.

This enemy is only found in The Forest of Hope, where one is guarding the Radiation Canopy, and The Distant Spring, where one has ingested the Bowsprit. As a side-note, Olimar can destroy the rocks by punching them; this does not work with the rock-producing Lithopods in Pikmin 2, however.

Ship Log
"This creature spits out massive rocks and boasts an impenetrable shell that repels all Pikmin attacks. Just before spitting out a boulder, it sucks in large breaths of air... Perhaps its air hole will provide a clue to it's weakness."

How to kill
The only way one can be defeated is by clogging the blowhole during air intake (Pikmin are impervious to harm when inhaled). This causes the beetle's internal temperature to rise dramatically, and in response the beetle will expose its burning abdomen underneath the armor to vent. The exposed abdomen leaves the beetle extremely vulnerable to attack. However, the beetle will quickly unclog its blowhole, shield its backside, and continue its attack after excess heat has been drained. But if Olimar brings 40-60 Red Pikmin with buds or flowers and throws quickly, he can have the Armored Cannon Beetle down and out on the first or second try. After closing its back up, your Pikmin are knocked down and the Armored Cannon Beetle shoots a boulder out of its nose that rolls until it hits a wall. Make sure you whistle your Pikmin quickly or they will be crushed.

Appearances

 * Pikmin 1/New Play Control

Armored Cannon Beetle Larva


Armored Cannon Beetle Larvae are enemies in Pikmin 2. They resemble large grubs with small blue eyes and a mouth bearing resemblance to that of the Armored Cannon Beetle. It also has a blowhole, but appears to inhale through its mouth, unlike the adult form. This animal behaves in much the same manner as the Armored Cannon Beetle, but turns and spits at a faster rate and has much less health. They do not have the hard exoskeleton the adults are infamous for, and are thus vulnerable on all parts of their body. You can usually see this creature walking about, though they will sometimes burrow out of the dirt, usually on an elevated section of ground, and take shots at you from their perch. If you're in an open area, and are quick on your feet, you can sometimes get these giant grubs to fire rocks at and destroy other enemies. As a note, the rocks it shoots out cannot be petrified.

Olimar's Notes
This specimen is a lithopod larva. This expedition was unable to confirm the existence of any mature lithopods, leading to concerns that the species was extinct on this planet, but the discovery of the creature in larval form eased such concerns. Lithopods, like flint beetles, use internal metabacteria to aid chemical digestion. These metabacteria can only survive in certain environments, such as within the body of certain insects, so lithopod larvae do not contain any metabacteria immediately after hatching. Larvae feed on partially digested ore regurgitated by mature lithopods, ensuring the larvae obtain metabacteria they would not have normally acquired.

Louie's Notes
Carefully remove every grain of sand, peel back the exoskeleton, and slurp heartily!