Swooping Snitchbug

The Swooping Snitchbug is a creature found in the main four Pikmin games and. They are legless, round, flying insects that have evolved wing-like antennae as a means of locomotion. They swoop down, as their name suggests, and grab their prey with their claws – a maximum of two at once. After carrying them for a few seconds, they violently throw them towards the ground. This action would harm most prey, whereas Pikmin are simply replanted and reverted to their original leaf stage in the first two games (in Pikmin 3, their maturity remains the same). They are also able to pick up the leaders in Pikmin 3, much like Bumbling Snitchbugs do in Pikmin 2 – if they don't escape, they will be tossed to the ground and damaged.

These creatures will plummet to the ground if weighed down by a sufficient number of Pikmin, or with a single Purple Pikmin in Pikmin 2 or a single Rock Pikmin in Pikmin 3. This renders it susceptible to further attack. Ultra-bitter sprays may also be used to freeze it in mid-air, causing it to drop to the ground, which is arguably easier, but of course produces no corpse, and may be considered a waste of sprays.

Should the enemy throw a Yellow Pikmin that is holding a bomb-rock in Pikmin, the bomb-rock will explode, killing the Yellow Pikmin, all Pikmin caught in the blast, and likely itself, too. In Pikmin 3, it will carry the bomb rock and not the Pikmin, and throwing the bomb-rock merely activates it instead of causing an immediate explosion. Although the creature is not as interested in killing Pikmin as much as it is chucking them, it may end up throwing a Pikmin at a hazard.

In, it can and will grab Pikmin from the leader's hand, if the captain is holding on to it before throwing, but in Pikmin 2, it will ignore any held Pikmin; it can still steal it from the hand if it began swooping prior to the grab, however. In Pikmin 3, every time it dives, it randomly chooses to catch Pikmin or leaders, and if it chooses the former, it will never succeed in grabbing a held Pikmin. If it snatches two Pikmin in a single dive, the way it throws them will also differ between games – in Pikmin, it will throw one Pikmin first, fly around some more, and then throw the second one, but in Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3, it will throw both of them at once. In ''Hey! Pikmin'', they will attempt to swoop straight down, grab Pikmin, and fly back up without coming back again, counting as a death to the player's Pikmin. They are incredibly rare in this game, as only a few appear, in Olimar's Madcap Ride.

In Pikmin, it only appears in The Forest of Hope on day 15 and forward, and in The Distant Spring on day 5 and forward.

Appearance
In Pikmin, they have a brown body with a green moss like tint on some parts and green lines in between the parts of their "exoskeleton". They also have a golden head with antennae that go from yellow to orange. In this game they have more fluid flight movement, tilting when turning.

In Pikmin 2, the green tint is removed with the green lines also being less noticeable, and the head is also now also a pale green and the antennae now go from green to yellow to orange.

In Pikmin 3, the creature is now a light yellowish green with a texture not too dissimilar to the exoskeleton of some beetles. Their antennae have also changed to a yellow to brown gradient. They also gained more realistic compound eyes compared to the glass-like eyes with pupils from Pikmin and Pikmin 2. They also will attempt to crawl away when swarmed by Pikmin on the ground.

In Hey! Pikmin, the body is now a much darker green with the head and arms being a pale yellow and their lower arms also now resemble the Bumbling Snitchbug's arms in shape, their antennae have once again changed color to orange to a dark maroonish red, and they also return to having the less realistic eyes from Pikmin and Pikmin 2 but are missing the red to yellow gradient that they have in every other game.

Pikmin
These creatures can easily be brought to the ground by weighing it down with five or so Pikmin. Yellows are the best option to weigh it down, because their high reach makes it easier to hit it. Afterwards, a simple swarm can defeat it. If the Snitchbug captures a Yellow Pikmin holding a bomb, it will explode while it is in the air. Oddly, by whistling at the Pikmin while it's coming down after being thrown by the creature, there is a chance that the Pikmin will simply react to the whistle and join Olimar's group like normal, instead of being buried.

Pikmin 2
The same strategy from Pikmin can be applied here. Alternatively, throwing a single Purple Pikmin onto it will weigh it down right away. Be warned, as on sublevels with abysses, the Snitchbug can throw Pikmin down the pit. The Snitchbug is much less of a threat in this game, even less so if one has a Pluckaphone. Though one could leave at least one Purple to deal with them, it is advised to not do so on metallic sublevels, as there are often bombs on those sublevels.

Pikmin 3
In Pikmin 3, like in all of the other games, around 5 Pikmin are able to weigh the Swooping Snitchbug down, making it easy to defeat. It's recommended to use Yellow Pikmin to weigh it down, as their throwing height ensures it will land on the Swooping Snitchbug, and the Snitchbug can fly higher in this game. If you have a reasonable amount of Winged Pikmin, swarming it will be sure to weigh it down. A direct hit from a Rock Pikmin will bring the Swooping Snitchbug down too, similar to how throwing one Purple Pikmin on it will weigh it down in Pikmin 2.

Pikmin 4
The same strategies from all three games can be applied here. Additionally, if a Swooping Snitchbug grabs at least one Purple Pikmin, it will lift them up before immediately collapsing on the ground; the same thing happens if the player had knocked it out of the air mid-combat.

Glitch
There is a rare glitch in Pikmin: once you've knocked the Swooping Snitchbug down to the ground, throw your Pikmin onto the creature and swarm it with all of the other Pikmin, which should kill it. Then, carry it back to the Onions by swarming the corpse. Later, you will notice the Pikmin you threw on the squirming Swooping Snitchbug are floating in the air, making the attacking motion as if they are attacking something invisible.

In the Super Smash Bros. series
The creature appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Trivia

 * When idle, the Swooping Snitchbug rubs its hands together, similar to a fly. This can also be seen with the Bumbling Snitchbug.
 * Swooping Snitchbugs and Mamutas are the only ways one can see a burrowed Bulbmin.
 * In Pikmin and Pikmin 2, when Pikmin are grabbed, their squeal is the same as if they got bitten, but it is a different sound in Pikmin 3.
 * In Pikmin 3, if a Pikmin lays down a bomb rock, there is a chance the Swooping Snitchbug will grab the bomb rock. It will then explode in its hands, killing it.
 * The position of the Swooping Snitchbug in the enemy reel, which is otherwise alphabetized, indicates that the creature's name may originally have started with the letter "f". This was fixed in the Switch port.
 * In Pikmin 2, it is possible for the Swooping Snitchbug to capture Pikmin mid-air.
 * Also in Pikmin 2, Pikmin held by a Swooping Snitchbug can not die from bomb rock explosions.
 * In Pikmin 2, if there are 99 Pikmin buried in the same area or sublevel, it will be impossible for a Swooping Snitchbug to bury the 100th Pikmin. That Pikmin will simply stay idle..