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."

Pikmin 3 (Flish addition)
Armored Cannon Beetles are found in Pikmin 3 (Flish Edition), although the larvae are absent. They're signifigantly easier to defeat and can often be found as a regular enemy. Their seed worth is also only 20 now.

In Pikmin: Ultimate Doom
The Armored Cannon Beetle is a miniboss in Pikmin: Ultimate Doom, but its larva is absent. The Armored Cannon Beetle is much stronger in Pikmin: Ultimate Doom. It will stomp on the ground, stunning all Pikmin within the radius of the tremor. It quickly shoots out a boulder to crush stunned Pikmin. It can also go into a rampage mode and run around. If it brushes up against a Pikmin while in rampage mode, that Pikmin begins to panic. Then it shoots its boulders at the panicking Pikmin.

Locations

 * Crystal Falls
 * Rust Factory