User:Scittery Leaves23

Hello, people of the Pikmin Wiki!

Stuff About Me
I am a huge fan of the Pikmin series, as well as Nintendo in general. Though I am a video game nerd, I also have considerable knowledge in fields of science, including ornithology, entomology, geology, meteorology, and ecology. My love for science is essentially the force that got me hooked on the Pikmin series; after skimming through the Piklopedia, I was immediately captivated.

After seeing some mind-blowing theories regarding Pikmin on Youtube, I was inspired to do some thinking myself. I came up with some pretty decent ideas, most involving the Arachnorbs, my favorite creatures in the series. Previous knowledege on bugs really helped out there.

Currently I try to help the Wiki out the best I can, whether it be fixing grammar, reorganising, or adding new info on images. It's a surprisingly fun thing to do, might I add, and I feel like I'm actually working for a good cause, and that's a feeling that is quite difficult to bring upon yourself.

Though I love Pikmin above all other videogame series, I am very fond of the Wario Land series (especially 2 and 3) for its amazing blend of platforming with tight controls and solving puzzles with a quick mind. It's an extremely underrated series in my opinion.

I also have a Youtube account called Decalcified Tea where I upload videos of Super Smash Bros for Wii U, mostly of me playing as Wario either pulling of some interesting stunts or just silliness that ensues in For Glory.

My username is "Scittery Leaves" but I usually go by "Skitt" or "Morris", my last name.

And that is all you need to know about me. Oh, and I speak Spanish. Gracias para leyendo.

Achievements

 * I have recieved a Platinum rank in all of the Mission in Pikmin 3, single and co-op.
 * I once held the world record for Clockwork Chasm Battle Enemies Co-op.

Current Projects
I do a variety of Pikmin-related stuff outside of the Wiki. Currently I am working on an animation based on Pikmin 2, which I'll hopefully get completed by the end of the summer of 2015. I plan to add Pikmin 3 videos to my Youtube channel, probably of a speedrun, certain missions, or me getting all fruits at one of the areas in one day.



I also know quite a bit of C++, and I've been doing a lot of different things in my IDE like messing with computer apps, programming small robots and making simple games. I plan to someday work on a Pikmin fan-game thing. Someday.

Theories
Back on the Pikmin Wiki, I did some hypothesizing about creatures on PNF-404. I haven't done anything recently, but I've decided to move them here because where else, right? I've got their original names from the blog posts and the date they were written and everything else is just copied and pasted (so typos still exist). Maybe I'll even add more someday. If you'd like to hear my two cents on Arachnorbs and other creatures, then great, read on. You may learn a thing or two.

"Bulborb Life"
From August 17, 2014

Hello, everyone, I'm back for another theory. This one is going to cover a lot on the subject of Bulborbs, so excuse me if this gets a little hard to follow at points.

The central piece to this theory is that Bulborbs, though not insects, bear some interesting connections to the real-world order Hymenoptera. This order includes specialized insects like bees and ants, all with nests of some sort and a "queen" that produces all of the colony's offspring. Sound familier? Empress Bulblax resides underground in a hollowed-out den and produces a steady stream of Bulborb Larva. So, Empress Bulblax is the equivalent of a queen bee of a honeybee colony, but what does that mean? We can draw a few interesting things from this.

1. The Empress Bulblax must have started its life as a Bulborb Larva. Something, however, must have been done to give it the distinct form that we know it to possess. In nature, when it is time to appoint a new queen bee, one specific larva will be fed large amounts of a bee secretion known as royal jelly. Large portions of this "jelly" provide proteins that a honeybee will otherwise not obtain, making this new queen bee develop in a way different from its larval companions. The queen grows larger than the other bees, and it develops a functional reproductive system. A similar process could be what causes a Bulborb Larva to grow into an Empress Bulblax. Bulborbs, however, have no known form of secretions, so they likely acquire such a substance from their surrounding area. Eggs containing Ultra-bitter Nectar, Ultra-spicy Nectar, and just ordinary Nectar are found underground, so any of these could be fed to a Bulborb Larva to produce an Empress Bulblax. The effects of Ultra-spicy and Ultra-bitter Sprays on all creatures but Pikmin are unkown so they could possibly be used. I find it more likely, however, that Nectar is the Bulborb's royal jelly, as much like all bee larvae are at one point housed in this substance, all Bulborb Larvae leave a drop of Nectar when killed. It is only until a larva is fed large amounts of the jelly that it begins to develop, so the same could easily be true for Bulborbs; all need Nectar, the Empress just needs a lot more.

2. In a honeybee colony, aside from the queen bee, there are male "drone" bees and female "worker" bees. The males have functional reproductive systems and are actually only used for reproduction with the queen. Females are sterile and are tasked with providing nourishment for the queen and larvae. A queen bee produces about 1,400 - 2,000 larvae annually. All males are required for reproduction and all females are required for help with the larvae. The Empress Bulblax produces about 15 larvae each minute, which means about 900 in a hour, about 21,600 in a day, and a whopping 7,884,000 in a year (wow). Considering this massive number, all the males produced must be required for reproduction, meaning they stay in the "nest"... which means we may have never seen a male Bulborb. Does that mean every adult Bulborb we see lazing about on its own is female? Yes, but there's more to it. I call the Bulborbs found in areas like the Awakening Wood "Free Bulborbs", meaning that they don't live under the order of the nest, as they are not needed. But with so many larvae being produced, wouldn't all they females be needed to help out? Not exactly; according to Olimar's Notes, Bulborb Larvae are able to find food and feed themselves, and by experience, most of us should know that's true. Therefore, workers would only be required to feed the Empress (she can't even walk), and only so many can do this, so to keep space in the nest, unnecessary females are sent out. With this in mind, we may have never seen "worker" female Bulborbs. While workers would appear the same as nomal Bulborbs seen in the games, they would likely sleep and eat a lot less, as their work is for the queen.

To summarize big points so far:

Nectar/Ultra-spicy Nectar/Ultra-bitter Nectar/ could have different effects on creatures that we have no seen them be used on. This could explain how an Empress Bulblax is formed. Nectar seems most likely.

Males Bulborbs are never seen. To produce almost 8 million larvae, all males would be required at the nest. They may be slightly larger or smaller than the females we see, but not drastically different.

Female "worker" Bulborbs are never seen, and are likely identical to "free" Bulborbs, but behave differently. Like the males, they stick close to the nest. We see "free" Bulborbs out and about because they are not needed at the nest to serve Empress Bulblax. They live they're own lives and hunt food for their own gain.

Due to their similarities to order Hymenoptera, we can assume all Bulborbs we see (aside from Empress Bulblax) are sterile.

But wait, there's more! Any avid reader of the Piklopedia may recall that Olimar states that a female Bulborb's egg sac expands due to environmental changes (resulting in an Empress Bulblax), which contradicts my statement that Nectar may be used to provide the creature's excellent fertility. I don't care what the game says, anatomy cannot be changed by one's environment. That's like saying that your dog gets taller because you put all it's food up on the fridge. It just doesn't happen. Lamarck couldn't prove it, and niether can Olimar.

That's all I have for this theory. If you see a hole in this, or would like to inquire about something, let me know, and I can almost certainly provide an answer. If I can't... then congrats, smarty-pants.

I should point out that there is an inaccuracy here; a queen bee produces about 2k bees daily, not annually.

"The Anatomy of a Snitchbug"
From May 29th, 2014

Hello everyone! I'm taking a break from Arachnorb theories for now... mostly because I really don't have much left to say about them. So here's something on a creature that I just love to hate, the Swooping Snitchbug.

How do you learn the anatomy of a Snitchbug? Well, you could look into the code, I guess. But we haven't time for that. Let's take a quick look at it's body.

The two parts of it's body that are put to use (aside from sensory cells) are its antennae, for flying, and its arms, for grabbing and throwing.

In all three games, the bug uses its antennae for one purpose -- flying. Boring, no?

In Pikmin and Pikmin 2, the Snitchbug uses its arms to grab Pikmin and Pikmin only. In Pikmin 3, however, it may also pick up and throw the captains. Now we have a question to answer: how is it able to grab captains in Pikmin 3, but not in the previous games? Surely it can't just decide to suddenly pick up the captains after having seen them multiple times before -- it saw Olimar as an enemy right from their very first encounter. The reason is that it couldn't pick them up before.

Look at the Snitchbug in Pikmin, and compare it to the one seen in Pikmin 3. They look similar enough. Sure the design is a tad different, but for the most part their bodies a very close in appearance. But if you pay close attention to their hands, you can notice something. The Snitchbug in the first game has two hook-like claws that can fit Pikmin snugly between them. The Snitchbug in Pikmin 3 has very similar claws that are used for the same purpose. But within its hand you can also observe a smaller claw that looks a lot like a thumb. This feature appears much smaller and stubbier in the earlier games -- at most times you can't even notice it is there. It is therefore most likely a developing feature, one that is not quite functional yet.

Just try picking something up using only your pointer and middle fingers. Sure, it is probably easy to grip something thin like a book, but just try something like a flailing puppy wearing a metal space suit. Having a thumb would really make the job easier. The Snitchbugs in Pikmin and Pikmin 2 have no functional thumbs to pick up that puppy (or a captain in their world) so they must aim for the thin stems of the Pikmin. In Pikmin 3, they have this appendage, offering enhanced gripping abilities, thus making them able to take hold of larger targets, such as the captains. The Snitchbugs seen in these games are actually different in structure.

Of course, if you want maybe a more practical answer, then Nintendo was just too lazy to make a new model for the Bumbling Snitchbug, so they gave both abilities to the Swooping Snitchbug. But where is the fun in that?

That is all I have for now -- I'm sick of typing.

But wait, there's more! I've only answered half the problem, which is the HOW. I have an answer to the second part, the WHY, as well. Why do the Snitchbugs change? How does the Bumbling Snitchbug fit into this? I'll answer these later on, but for now, thanks for reading, and until next time, stay beautiful -- beautiful as a Spectralid.

"Arachnorbs: Perhaps not what I thought..."
From May 14th, 2014

Hello, anyone and everyone interested in our favorite fictitious false-spiders!

It's been a while, but I came across an interesting athropod that may explain Arachnorbs a bit better than I have been doing.

While creating my Mitite theories, I was under the assumption that the Arachnorbs were all in some way related to harvestmen, or the Daddy Long Legs, as they are better known. I mainly did this because of the names; it's just too easy to draw the connection. Despite this, however, there is little about the Arachnorbs that is very similar to the real-world harvestmen, aside from their long legs, of course. I made a brief mention about the secretions, too, but that is of little importance in the grand scheme.

So what does the Beady Long Legs better resemble?

A Spider Beetle.

This arthropod has a very round abdomen, a rare trait in itself. The posture orthe positioning of its legs is also closer to an arachnorb -- the legs are placed close to the main body, not sprawled all out, like with a harvestman. But what really sets this guy apart is how hidden the rest of its body is, making its overall shape seem much more round than say a Goldenrod Spider, which has a very orbular body, but has a noticable head. The Spider Beetle has a very stumpy head and thorax, so from a distance, they look like little shiny orbs with long legs.

Wait a minute! Did I just say that it has a thorax?

Yes, the Spider Beetle is not an arachnid. It is an insect, but appears very similar to an arachind, so therefore one could possible call it a fake spider. Or a pseudoarachnid. Also, knowing that it is a beetle, it has a hard shell. You could even call it armoured. So, in short, it is an armoured, fake spider. Does that sound familiar (it better)?

Still, the Spider Beetle is not perfect. It has six legs, not four, has two antennae, and actually sports wings. Seeing how it is just about the closest thing to Arachnorbs, however, genetic engineeing could be a quick route to making it into something similar to the Beady Long Legs. Use harvestmen DNA; legthen the legs, lose the antennae, lose the wings... of course it's not quite that simple, but it'll give you a general idea. Oh, and it would somehow have to get one heck of a lot bigger... something that I can't really explain. Future technology? Nuclear radiation?

Well that is the best explaination I have. Hopefully it makes some sense.

It wouldn't hurt to look up an image of a Spider Beetle either. They're pretty neat.

That's all I have today. Thanks for reading!

"Arachnorb Theory Part 2"
From April 4th, 2014

Hello again!

Last time, I discussed the possibility that the Raging Long Legs is in fact female. After a decent amount of additional research on harvestmen, or daddy long legs, I have found some interesting facts that bring about two theories regarding the creature and its realtion with Mitites.

Theory #1: This goes along with what I discussed in my last post; the Raging Long Legs is the victim of the sexual parasitism by the Mitites because as Olimar states, they lay their eggs in the eggs of a female host. I found more evidence to support this and that is the fact that harvestmen and mites are known to share a parasitic relationship, the symbiont, in this case being the mites. Nothing too new here, just cement for what has already been discussed.

Theory #2: This one is a bit strange, but I do belive it is possible, as much as it contradicts my previous theory. In short, the Mitites are the actual babies of the Raging Long Legs. While most harvestmen, which the arachnorbs most resemble, have long spindly legs, others, young included, are short and have somwhat stubby legs, looking ver similar to mites. It could be the Mitite creatures are not just mites, which they appear to be, but rather developing arachnorbs. It's hard to draw connections between the two creatures, but Mitites are of an unkown family. This could be because they really aren't their own family, but rather they share a family with previously discovered creatures... Olimar just doesn't realise this. After all, if you were an alien observing Earth, would you ever guess that a caterpillar (without watching it develop) is the same species as a butterfly? Probably not.

One problem with the theory is that harvestmen undergo incomplete metamorphism, meaning that the young will often times look very similar to the adult, only much smaller, of course. It's obvious that the Mitite and the Raging Long Legs do not look alike at all. This would be a case of very extreme incomplete metamorphism; usually an athropod that develops as such will shed skin and gain more defined features... but that's about it. A Mitite would have to shed its lighter skin to become almost all black, and gain very well-defined feet, both of which could be done, but it's entire body shape would have to change, something that only occurs in complete or gradual metamorphism. Of course, it is not set in stone that the Raging Long Legs undergoes incomplete metamorphism... I'm just assuming because of its similarities to the harvestman. Maybe Nintendo was just messing with us and creating their own twisted science (that's a scary thought).

Anything to add? Anything disturbing that needs to be pointed out? If anyone would like to see my sources and try to come up with their own research, just ask. Well that's all I've got for now... thanks for your time!

The Raging Long Legs... What is it?
From March 19th, 2014

After large amounts of Pikmin 3, I went back to playing Pikmin 2 for a while. This time through, I thought about something I never had before. I fought a the Raging Long Legs, and I noticed how, since I had completed the Hole of Heroes previously, it released a swarm of Mitites. Amidst the shrieking and flailing of the terrified Pikmin, an idea formed in my mind. Using the wonderful, splendiferously helpful Piklopidea, and my prior knowledge on entomology, I have come to the conclusion that this massive creature is in fact female.

Learning from the Piklopidea, Mitites lay their eggs in the eggs of a hosting female species. This is known as sexual parasitism (gross, right?) and is used frequently be insects such as wasps in real life. Since the Raging Long Legs drops Mitites, in makes sense that they would be located in the developing eggs of the creature. This means it is in fact a soon-to-be mother, and thus female.

Also, Olimar states that little is known about the internal workings of the creature, so there is that extra room for speculation.

When looking at the Raging Long Legs, one might say "how does it support its abdomen?" That is indeed a good question; the thing is stupidly large for its thin legs, and even looks a bit too big for its feet. The answer is that it doesn't have to, at least not all the time. Simliar to how a pregnant woman becomes shall we say... rounder(?) when pregnant, insects abdomens increase drastically in size when they are soon to lay eggs. This is especially visible in many moth and butterfly species. So this means that perhaps Raging Longs Legs on a normal day would be much smaller, but still significantly larger than the Beady Long Legs.

Also, when almost any animal is pregnant, it becomes extremely ornery, protective, and territorial. This explains the creature's raging behavior.

So there you have it, the beast you kill in the Hole of Heroes is just trying to become a mother, but is being plagued by both you and parasites, and it explodes right there and then. You monster.

That's what you get when you apply arthropod anatomy to a video game. The scary spider monster, though it may appear masculine, is just as female as your sister-in-law. This means that a male Raging Long Legs must exist as well. Back to PNF-404! Further research is needed! For science!

Any holes you see in this theory? If not, then thanks for reading, and I'll see you back at PNF-404.

''This was by far the most fun to come up with. I've expanded on it more since, but its nice to see my original thoughts.