Shearflea

Shearfleas are enemies found in. They are based on and named after fleas, which they resemble closely due to their reddish coloration and overall design. Even though they have the prefix 'Shear-' in their name, they are actually not a part of the Mandiblard family like other creatures with the same name prefix, and are in a new family; the Springjab family.

Behavior
Shearfleas idly wander around their territory area until they notice the player and their Pikmin, where they will then start to jump towards and at them. If a Shearflea grabs a Pikmin, they do not instantly eat it like most enemies, they attempt to jump away from the player and then eat them. This gives the player a little bit of time to save their captured Pikmin by killing the Shearflea. Shearfleas can also attach themselves to the player and Oatchi. They will then proceed to attack them while also slowing them down until they have been shook off. There can be a max of 3 Shearfleas on the player, and a max of 5 on Oatchi.

Appearance
Shearfleas are small red, grub-like creatures that resemble real life fleas. They have four legs and a spike-like mouth that it uses to attack and eat. Sheafleas also have two green eyes on either side of their head. Their overall design, though different, has been influenced by real life fleas. Notably, they somewhat resemble members of the mandiblard family, but their legs and proboscis, as opposed to fully functional jaws, sets them apart.

Locations

 * Hero's Hideaway
 * Trial of the Sage Leaf

Strategy
Shearfleas are quite simple to deal with as they die with a single Pikmin, excluding Winged Pikmin, landing directly on them. The real issue appears when there is a large number of them as they can quickly eat Pikmin or even attach themselves to both the player and Oatchi. A solution to this is to never stop moving while you fight them as they tend to jump towards your previous position.

Additionally, it should also be noted that Rock Pikmin are immune to being eaten by Shearfleas. Similar to the Joustmite, Rock Pikmin are simply pushed away whenever attacked, allowing them to safely eliminate Shearfleas without any risk of them being eaten in the process.