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.

Scientific name: Papilifictus nivedae

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 Snowfake Fluttertail uses ice to both protect itself and freeze prey. Swallow could be in relation to the fact that the enemy swallows Pikmin, but could also be a reference to the real swallowtail butterfly as Olimar mentions their similar appearance in his notes.

The family genus, Papilifictus, is derived from Papilio and fictus. Papilio is a real genus of swallowtail butterflies, and fictus is Latin for "fake". This is in reference to the fact that the Snowfake Fluttertail is said to "mimic a type of swallowtail butterfly" and is actually more closely related to moths.

Names in other languages

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
Japanese	ユキミノガ科? Yuki minoga ka	Snow bagworm moth family
French	camoufloptères		The name is a portmanteau of "camouflage" (camouflage) and the suffix "-ptère" (-ptera)
German	Schneepanzer-Motten	Snow shell-Moths
Korean	눈도롱이나방 과 nundorong-inabang gwa
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
Spanish	Traganívedos	Swallowsnows	Based on the verb for "to swallow" (tragar) rather than the word used to name the bird and the butterfly (golondrina).