Armored Cannon Beetle

Armored Cannon Beetle
File:Armored Cannon Beetle(PikminNPC).jpg
Appears in	N/A
Scientific name	Granitus chukkulinae
Family	Lithopod
Areas	The Forest of Hope, The Distant Spring
Attacks	Launches Boulders

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 voyage, only the larval stage is present. It is a large, almost shiny, black beetle with a thick, rounded shell of armor and an blowhole above its head. It attacks by inhaling through this opening and subsequently firing a rolling rock from its mouth, which crushes any of smaller 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.

Olimar's Voyage 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."

“{{notes:enemy/{{{2}}}|block=y}}”

How to kill

The only way one can be defeated is by clogging the blowhole during air intake (Pikmin, and presumably other small creatures, 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 you bring 40-60 pikmin (preferably reds that are budded or flowered) and throw fast, you can have him down and out on the first or second try. 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.