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Snowswallow family

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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[edit]

Snowfake Fluttertail[edit]

Icon for the Snowfake Fluttertail, from Pikmin 4's Piklopedia.
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[edit]

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. fictus 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.

Names in other languages[edit]

The following article or section is in need of assistance from someone who plays Pikmin 4.
Particularly: Document names in other languages.

Language Name Meaning Notes
Flag of Japan Japanese ユキミノガ科?
Yuki minoga ka
Snow bagworm moth family
Flag of France French camoufloptères The name is a portmanteau of "camouflage" (camouflage) and the suffix "-ptère" (-ptera)
Flag of Germany German Schneepanzer-Motten Snow shell-Moths
Flag of South Korea Korean 눈도롱이나방 과
Flag of Brazil Portuguese Pteronixídeos The name is a portmanteau of the prefix "ptero-" (ptero-), the Latin word "nix" (snow) and suffix "-ídeos" (-idae), which is used for naming animal family names