Arctic Cannon Larva

Arctic Cannon Larva
Appears in	Pikmin 3, Pikmin 4
Scientific name	Granitus frostitum
Family	Lithopod
Areas	Distant Tundra
Caves	Subzero Sauna
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! stages	Silver Lake Remix
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! stages	Silver Lake, Distant Tundra Remix
Side Story days	None
Dandori Challenge stages	None
Dandori Battle stages	None
Bingo Battle stages	None
Attacks	Launch snowballs

Arctic Cannon Larvae (ユキフタクチ^?, lit.: "Snow Two-Mouth") are enemies in Pikmin 3 and Pikmin 4. They are bright green, with a lavender underbelly, and a variant of Armored Cannon Larvae accustomed to cold conditions. They are the larval form of the Arctic Cannon Beetle.

Unlike their rock-spitting relatives, Arctic Cannon Larvae launch giant snowballs. While mostly equivalent to boulders in functionality, snowballs are incapable of killing Pikmin, instead simply picking them up and carrying them along until they crash into something (even other snowballs); Winged Pikmin won't even be picked up by the projectiles, only knocked back. Leaders will be picked up as well, which also traps them until the snowball is destroyed. As a result, the creature is annoying at best, and is only a threat if the Pikmin it rolls away end up next to some other enemy or hazard without the player noticing, but can be killed with relative ease by any Pikmin type.

Stats

Game	Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health
(?)	7	14 (normally)	8	× 50  × 50	1275
	7	14	8	× 7	900

Notes

Alph's comments

“Structural flaw: weak hide
Weight: 7

Snowballs are an ingeniously nonlethal weapon! I'm in love with a design that effectively keeps predators away without overdoing it. Full marks.”

Brittany's comments

“When I saw this one spitting snowballs and sending Pikmin rolling, I thought it looked like a good time. So I walked right into its line of fire, waved my arms to catch its attention, and waited for the fun to start. But all I got was dizzy.”

Charlie's comments

 US version

“They're more annoying than dangerous, but if you want to avoid the pushback from their rolling snowballs, it's just a matter of fancy footwork. Remember to do your warm-up exercises first! You wouldn't want to get a Charlie horse! Ha!”

 European version

“They're more annoying than dangerous, but if you want to avoid the pushback from their rolling snowballs, it's just a matter of fancy footwork. Float like a skitter leaf, sting like a scornet!”

Louie's comments

“Peel back the shell and sprinkle the tender meat with a dash of salt before slurping it up raw. For a refreshing dessert, pour fruit juice over its snowballs!”

Olimar's comments

 US version

“Arctic Cannon Larva
Granitus frostitum
Lithopod family

Like other members of the lithopod family, its internal bacteria are specialized to form ice compounds from ambient moisture, which it then expels as projectiles. It technically doesn't rely on cold temperatures to create this ice, which is formed by pressurized internal fluids that act as a coolant. When the projectiles rapidly expand, they absorb ambient heat, lowering the air temperature enough for the moisture in the air to freeze.”

 European version

“Arctic Cannon Larva
Granitus frostitum
Lithopod family

Like other members of the lithopod family, its internal bacteria are specialised to form ice compounds from ambient moisture, which it then expels as projectiles. It technically doesn't rely on cold temperatures to create this ice, which is formed by pressurised internal fluids which act as a coolant. When the projectiles rapidly expand, they absorb ambient heat, lowering the air temperature enough for the moisture in the air to freeze.”

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide

“The Arctic Cannon Larva is a large, burrowing creature that attacks by launching large Snowballs at its enemies. These Snowballs won't damage your Pikmin directly, but they are capable of incapacitating your Pikmin or carrying them into hazards. When you encounter an Arctic Cannon Larva, dodge its attacks and flank the creature. Throw a steady stream of Rock Pikmin into the creature's back, or send your entire squad charging in to attack.”

Dalmo's Notes

“Whether or not there's snow on the ground, when this surprising sweetie comes around, you can have a snowball fight anytime. But don't expect it to go easy on you. You're in for a one-sided defensive battle, and you might end up looking like a snowman by the end!”

Behavior

The Arctic Cannon Larva will either emerge from the ground when a leader or Pikmin is extremely close to it, or it will emerge from a distance and consistently shoot snowballs to hinder the group. In most cases, it will behave the former way, and only a few, notably used in puzzles at the Distant Tundra, will perform the latter. In all cases, the Arctic Cannon Larva behaves the same up-close; it will try to roll its attackers away with snowballs and buck any Pikmin off if they latch onto it. During a battle, it will likely burrow underground, or attempt to, as many times as it can, and when it re-emerges, any leaders or Pikmin standing above will be launched into the air and temporarily immobilized.

Strategy

The following article or section contains guides. The strategies shown are just suggestions.

Although harmless, the Arctic Cannon Larva can be quite the nuisance. Any Pikmin type can be used to take it down. Simply charge at the lithopod with your squad and, with time, it will be defeated. Although all Pikmin can get shaken off by its bucking attack, Winged Pikmin are immune to its snowballs, making them slightly more effective for long battles.

To maximize the offensive output, send only a few Pikmin to attack it, and when you realize that it's getting ready to buck them away, send the remainder of your Pikmin to charge at it. This will cause them to attack while the creature is busy blowing a snowball, giving more time for the Pikmin to attack without getting shaken off.

Technical information

Pikmin 3 technical information (?)
Internal name	futakuchi (yuki)
HP	1275
Rock Pikmin throw hits to kill	20
White Pikmin ingestions to kill	0
Bomb rock explosions to kill	1
Bomb rock ingestions to kill	0
Number of direct hits on top to kill	0
Damage to leaders	10
Territory radius	200
Mission Mode value	50

Naming

See also: Lithopod family#Naming.

• Common name: Arctic Cannon Larva. With a name similar to the Armored Cannon Larva, this enemy is called arctic because it lives in cold environments, and is themed around snow.
• Japanese nickname: ユキフタクチ^?. It comes from the Japanese nickname of the Armored Cannon Larva, and the word ユキ^? (lit.: "Snow").
• Japanese name: ユキツツミ^?, lit.: "Snow Wrapper".
• Scientific name: Granitus frostitum. It contains the word "frost", a layer of ice.
• Internal names: Internally, it is considered the same enemy as the Armored Cannon Larva, so it shares the same internal name, but when it needs to be disambiguated, its name is yuki, which means ユキ^? (lit.: "snow").
• Prerelease: None.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ユキフタクチ? Yuki Futa Kuchi	Snow Two-Mouth
Chinese (traditional)	雪地雙口
French	Scaracanon arctique (Pikmin 3) Scaracanon des neiges (Pikmin 3 Deluxe)	Arctic Cannon Beetle (from "scarabée" (beetle) and "canon" (cannon)) Snow Cannon Beetle
German	Eis-Crustabitzenlarve	Larva of Ice-Crustabitze, itself a contraction of Crustacea and "Haubitze" (howitzer)
Italian	Bruco sputaneve	Snowspitting worm
Korean	눈두입호롱
Spanish (NoA)	Larva de tirador artico	Artic shooter larva

Gallery

• 

  A close-up of an Arctic Cannon Larva in the Distant Tundra.

• 

  Side view of the Arctic Cannon Larva.

• 

  Close-up of an Arctic Cannon Larva shooting a snowball.

• 

  The snowball created by an Arctic Cannon Larva.

• 

  Winged Pikmin fight an Arctic Cannon Larva.

• 

  Rock Pikmin fight an Arctic Cannon Larva.

• 

  The Arctic Cannon Larva defeated.

See also

• Armored Cannon Larva
• Decorated Cannon Beetle
• Arctic Cannon Beetle

This article was a featured article from June 1st, 2015 to August 1st, 2015.