Snowswallow family
The snowswallow family is a family of moth-like creatures introduced in Pikmin 4. It contains only one member, the Snowfake Fluttertail. All members of this family belong to the Papilifictus genus.
Members
Snowfake Fluttertail
- Main article: Snowfake Fluttertail.
The Snowflake Fluttertail is a boss found in the Frozen Inferno in Pikmin 4. They resemble a yellow moth that has an ice coating that covers up most of its body. They also have a spiralled proboscis that they use to grab frozen Pikmin to eat. The Snowflake Fluttertail also has two blue antenna and four wings of the same color. They blow ice onto Pikmin to freeze them, then they use their proboscis to grab them. A fire starter must be used to melt the ice coating it has protecting itself before it can be damaged.
Naming
The family's name, snowswallow, is made up of two words, snow and swallow. snow is in relation to the fact that the Snowflake Fluttertail uses ice to both protect itself and freeze prey. swallow could be in relation to the fact that the enemy swallows Pikmin, but it's more likely a connection to the swallowtail butterfly.
The family's genus, Papilifictus, can be split up into two parts, Papili and fictus. Papili may be derived from the word papilio which is a genus of the swallowtail butterfly family, it is also latin for butterfly. ficus is latin for fake, this is in relation to the fact that the Snowflake Fluttertail is actually a moth, not a butterfly. Therefore, putting the two words together creates 'fake butterfly' or more specifically, 'fake swallowtail butterfly', which is exactly what the Snowflake Fluttertail is.
