Careening Dirigibug

The Careening Dirigibug is an unusual insectoid enemy in Pikmin 2. It's a legless creature that slowly drifts through the air by utilizing colorful, balloon-like air sacs attached to what can be considered its head. When leaders or Pikmin approach, it will produce a bomb rock from its mouth and attempt to throw it down near them. The bomb rocks thrown by the Careening Dirigibug are not player-exclusive and can damage nearby enemies and hazards. It is found solely underground, in caves, Challenge Mode areas, and the Hostile Territory in 2-Player Battle.

Behavior
Careening Dirigibugs are always found in caves. They start off slowly drifting around in wide arcs at a similar height to Swooping Snitchbugs. However, when approached by a Pikmin or leader, a Dirigibug will produce a bomb rock from its mouth in about two seconds. It will then try to approach the Pikmin or leader, and once close enough it will stop to throw the bomb rock on the ground, activating the bomb rock's timer. The bomb can kill Pikmin, damage leaders and enemies, and defeat hazards, but it does not seem to hurt the Dirigibug if it is high enough in the air. However, the bomb rock can still damage the creature while it is grounded. If the Pikmin or leader exits the Dirigibug's territory while it has a bomb, it will continue to hold it for roughly twenty five seconds, until just dropping it anywhere.

Strategy
Careening Dirigibugs can be defeated in the same manner as Scarpanids and other flying enemies: rapidly throw Pikmin onto it while in the air, then swarm it when it falls. Like members of the Scarpanid family, the Careening Dirigibug can shake off Pikmin up to four times before dropping, but a Purple Pikmin will ground them immediately. Approach the creature from behind if possible, and use ultra-bitter spray if it is carrying a bomb-rock.

Unless it's petrified, the creature will throw its bomb a random distance in front of it when attacked. Should the bomb land too close to the Dirigibug, it is safest to back off and attack after the bomb has exploded. With speed you can accomplish this before the Dirigibug can produce a new bomb.

Careening Dirigibugs are useful in that they can take out other enemies. You can lure it into throwing a bomb-rock in front of you and the enemies, and then run off.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Careening Dirigibug appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Glitches

 * There is a rare glitch where one can be seen floating without balloons.
 * In some dungeons like the Hole of Heroes, a Careening Dirigibug can throw a bomb rock over a barrier when trying to kill Pikmin on the other side. On the first floor of the Cavern of Chaos, some can get caught in the pipes.
 * One glitch that can occur with the Careening Dirigibug involves invisible bombs. A leader may activate a bomb while the Dirigibug is still holding it, which will cause it to explode while the creature is still holding the bomb. The Careening Dirigibug continues the "holding" animation, even when there is no bomb there. It will eventually perform the throwing animation without the bomb.
 * In this creature's Piklopedia entry, petrifying it just as it breaks free from another spray makes it possible to freeze it and its bomb-rock separately.

Trivia

 * The Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy description details that Careening Dirigibugs occasionally throw dud bomb-rocks, which is not true in Pikmin 2. This could be referring to the inactive bomb-rocks usually found near the creatures, an earlier version of Pikmin 2 that had this behavior, or it could just be a mistake. A glitch does exist where bomb-rocks stay stuck and never explode, but it is unlikely that this is what the trophy was referring to.
 * Every sublevel has a limit on how many bomb-rocks it can have. If a Careening Dirigibug's bomb rocks are petrified such that they stay active as the creature creates more, it will fail to spit out a new one once the limit has been reached.
 * The Careening Dirigibugs bear a strange resemblance to the s from the documentary "Alien Planet", and also from 's book, Expedition. Both these creatures float using gas-filled sacks on their heads, effectively hunt down their targets, and also have generally similar body shapes.
 * The Careening Dirigibug's balloons aren't spherical and are actually dome shaped. Pikmin 2 changes the orientation of the balloons to face the camera so that they look spherical during runtime.