Flighty Joustmite

Flighty Joustmite
Appears in	Pikmin 3
Scientific name	Trilobitins reversa volanti
Family	Burrow-nit
Areas	Twilight River, Tropical Wilds
Mission Mode Collect Treasure! levels	None
Mission Mode Battle Enemies! levels	Clockwork Chasm, Twilight River Remix
Side Story levels	Channel Gone Dry
Bingo Battle levels	Sandbox Kingdom
Attacks	Stab and eat Pikmin

The Flighty Joustmite (トビカブリ^?, lit.: "Flying Head-Protector") is an enemy in Pikmin 3. This creature has the ability to fly, unlike other burrow-nits. It acts much like the Cloaking Burrow-nit and the Joustmite, in that it lashes its proboscis out to eat Pikmin, and has a fleshy area for the Pikmin to attack. The Flighty Joustmite is not very common and is only seen in a few areas, and only in Pikmin 3.

Stats[edit]

Weight	Max. carriers	Seeds	Value	Health
7	14 (normally)	8	× 30 × 30	600

Notes

Alph's comments

US version

“Structural flaw: rear
Weight: 7

The red, helmetlike shell covering its head is an effective defense, I'll give it that. Like the green model, it burrows underground and comes up to attack, but this one has enough lift capacity to fly when threatened. It'll try to dive-bomb you from the air and impale you on its stinger, but if you can dodge that, it'll get stuck and open itself up to attacks.”

European version

“Structural flaw: rear
Weight: 7

The red, helmet-like shell covering its head is an effective defence, I'll give it that. Like the green model, it burrows underground and comes up to attack, but this one has enough lift capacity to fly when threatened. It'll try to divebomb you from the air and impale you on its stinger, but if you can dodge that, it'll get stuck and open itself up to attacks.”

Brittany's comments

“I'm supposed to take a squad and charge it from the back while it's poking uselessly at the Rock Pikmin, but I get distracted every time at how cute the Rock Pikmin look rolling around with their stubby bodies.”

Charlie's comments

US version

“I'm not as impressed with the red bug as I was with the green one. Yes, it's got the plating of a tank and the harpoon of a fisherman, but inside beats the heart of a coward. What kind of soldier flies away instead of facing its enemy on solid ground? Even the Pikmin are made of sterner stuff.”

European version

“I'm not as impressed with the red bug as I was with the green one. Yes, it's got the plating of a tank and the harpoon of a fisherman, but what kind of coward flies away instead of facing its enemy on solid ground? Even the Pikmin are made of sterner stuff than that.”

Louie's comments

“Remove shell and roast over a low flame, then grind meat. Whisk paste into olive oil until emulsified. An extra dash of cumin lends some earthiness to this spicy salad dressing.”

Olimar's comments

“Flighty Joustmite
Trilobitins reversa volanti
Burrow-nit family

It's a close relative of the original Burrow-nit species, but this variety of Joustmite still has the use of its wings. Oddly, it still makes its habitat below ground and employs the same tactic of lying in wait before emerging to strike. The "helmet" protecting its head is functionally as hard as steel, due to waxy secretions in its pores which absorb and redirect any shocks it sustains.”

Pikmin 3 Prima Guide[edit]

“Like the standard Joustmite, the Flighty Joustmite spends most of its time partially buried. When it senses nearby prey, this low-flying enemy emerges and attacks its victims from above.

Rock Pikmin cannot be damaged by the Flighty Joustmites's attacks, making them an excellent choice when dealing with this enemy. Flank the creature and attack from the rear, throwing your Pikmin onto the Flighty Joustmite's soft body.”

Behavior[edit]

The Flighty Joustmite, like the Joustmite, is a passive creature, only ever coming out of the ground when Pikmin or a leader is nearby. Once awakened, however, it will turn very aggressive. Like the Joustmite, its main form of attacking is by lashing out its proboscis to eat Pikmin. It keeps its face and front protected, while leaving its back open for attack. If a quarter of its health is depleted, it will attempt to take to the skies. If while airborne, it attempts to eat a Pikmin and misses, its proboscis will be stuck in the ground for a few seconds. The Flighty Joustmite regenerates health at all times, and can fully heal in 120 seconds, or two minutes. When its health reaches 90%, it will return to the ground.

Strategy[edit]

The Flighty Joustmite with its proboscis stuck in the ground.

The following article or section contains guides.
The strategies presented may not be the only ones or the best ones.

The Flighty Joustmite attacks by flying and stabbing its spear-like appendage straight down upon its prey. They can also attack while on the ground. If it misses whilst airborne, its joust will be stuck in the dirt for multiple seconds, making this an opportune time to attack it. To do so, you must hit the fleshy white part on its back, which isn't guarded by a shell. Rock Pikmin make fighting this creature a cakewalk, as they are immune to its stabbing proboscis.

Once it has lost half of its overall health, it will begin to fly. While in the air, it is harder to hit and its health will regenerate quickly, much like the Shearwigs do, so Winged Pikmin are recommended to use when it is airborne. If more than 10 Winged Pikmin grab onto it, the creature will plummet to the ground and fall on its side, leaving itself vulnerable to further attack as it struggles to reorient itself. Yellow Pikmin can also be thrown onto it, but it is much harder.

Technical information[edit]

Pikmin 3 technical information (?)
Internal name	`tobikaburi`
HP	600
Rock Pikmin throw hits to kill	15
White Pikmin ingestions to kill	3
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	300
Mission Mode value	30

Naming[edit]

See more: Joustmite#Naming.

Common name: Flighty Joustmite. "Flighty" means "not serious", although it also has the archaic definition of "swift". The Flighty Joustmite might also be called that because of how "flighty" relates to "flight", referring to how this Joustmite can fly.
Japanese nickname: トビカブリ^?, lit.: "Flying Head-Protector". カブリ^? (lit.: "Head-Protector") is one of the words in the Joustmite's name.
Japanese name: サカサアオメトビバオリ^?, lit.: "Inverted Blue Eye Flying Haori".
Scientific name: Trilobitins reversa volanti. It is identical to the normal Joustmite's scientific name, with the added volanti being Latin for "flight".
Internal names: Its internal name, tobikaburi simply matches the Japanese name.
Prerelease: None.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	トビカブリ^? Tobi Kaburi	Flying Head-Protector
Chinese (traditional)	飛披甲蟲
French	Cachepique ailé	From cache (hide) and pique (pike); ailé means "winged"
German	Geflügelter Grabwicht	Winged burrow midget
Korean	비상덮구
Spanish (NoA)	Liendre astada voladora	Flying horned nit
Spanish (NoE)	Liendre astada voladora	Flying horned nit