Ariados (Spinarak) | Ālìduōsī (Xiànqiú)
Licio major alola | Licio major domesticus
Overview
It is somewhat uncommon for two subspecies of the same pokémon to coexist in the same range. There are forces that encourage specialization, but the pokémon in an area usually continue to interbreed enough that the subspeciation process is slow.
Ariados is the first pokémon discussed in this guide with two subspecies classified by the Department of Agriculture as having “significant populations” in the Commonwealth of Alola. These are commonly referred to outside of Alola as the Yangtze ariados and the Alolan ariados. Within Alola, the latter are just called “ariados” (spinarak as juveniles) and the former are referred to by their transliterated Chinese name, ālìduōsī (xiànqiú as juveniles). These names will be used unless noted otherwise.
The ancestors of ālìduōsī, now extinct, were smaller, nimbler and more aggressive than the current pokémon. Even while the humans in their range despised the spiders, they had to respect the sheer durability of their silk, which was capable of withstanding slashes from bronze swords. Eventually, the Chinese domesticated the species. Anthropologists have yet to figure out exactly how. The folklore revolves around a woman who was cursed to become a spider for infidelity, married a male spider and served as a dutiful wife, and was then rewarded with humanity by the gods. However, she still loved her spider children and raised them as her own.
This is perhaps the most plausible explanation for how relatively intelligent and asocial man-eating spiders were tamed by humans who had no reliable way of harming or containing them. No other culture managed to domesticate their local spider species, and several of them are less intimidating than the historical record suggests the proto-ālìduōsī were.
For centuries, ālìduōsī silk was known and coveted as far away as the banks of the Niger and Rubicon. Yet the spiders themselves never developed a long-term foothold outside of East Asia. Part of this was a deliberate policy decision by the Chinese empires not to undermine their silk monopoly. In several dynasties ālìduōsī smuggling was punished by the execution of the trafficker and their entire family.
The first attempt to raise ālìduōsī on Alola occurred before first contact with Europeans and was apparently unsuccessful. Some of the descendants of those ālìduōsī would later retreat to the dense jungles of Alola and become ariados.
In the late 1800s a British entrepreneur decided to try again. Using some ālìduōsī illegally smuggled from China, as well as some purchased from a desperate nobleman in Johto, he set up the first successful ālìduōsī plantation outside of East Asia. Alola’s climate meant that ālìduōsī have plenty to eat and never have to hibernate. The only other spider pokémon in Alola are aquatic and relatively docile or, in the case of ariados, generally tolerant of others of their species. Vikavolt were used to keep birds away from the plantation. After only two decades, Elisha Gage owned no less than seven plantations across the islands and was well on his way to being the richest man in the archipelago. His political disputes with the king over taxation led to him overthrowing the monarchy. Four plantations remain today near Malie City and, ironically, Castleton on Ula’Ula. Another two are located on smaller islands to the northwest of the Tapu Isles. Two are located around Melemele and one on Akala.
Gage’s company, now known as Gracidea Clothiers, is a multibillion-dollar corporation specializing in ālìduōsī silk products and luxury clothing. They have since expanded into jewelry, private security, restaurants, bottled water, wine, and real estate.
(Full disclosure: The Gage Foundation is the second largest donor to the Alola Pokémon League, the publishers of this guidebook.)
Physiology
All evolutionary stages of ariados are classified as dual poison- and bug-type pokémon by the Department of Agriculture. All evolutionary stages of ālìduōsī are classified as pure bug-types.
Spinarak are small arachnid pokémon with six legs and two body segments. Their legs are covered in uneven yellow and black stripes. The rest of their body is covered in a mottled green pattern. The stripes and discoloration break up lines of sight and make them harder to see. Most spinarak have features resembling two eyes and a mouth on the back of their body to ward off predators, although their mottled coloration sometimes obscures it. Spinarak produce and release silk from their larger rear segment. They do not release silk from their anus or genitals. Instead, it is released from a series of nearby glands which each specialize in a specific type of silk. Spinarak’s smaller front segment contains the bulk of their central nervous system, although this also spreads into their hind segment and even their legs. The head segment also contains their mouth, venom sacs and eyes (unlike most spider pokémon, all subspecies and evolutionary stages of ariados only have one pair of eyes). Spinarak release venom from a stinger located just above their eyes. Spinarak venom is slow acting and primarily serves to weaken the target’s immune system and interfere with their circadian rhythm. The damage it deals is meant to be long-term.
Xiànqiú are slightly larger and bulkier than spinarak. Their legs are proportionally shorter and, instead of a mottled coloration, they are bright green. Unlike spinarak, they are somewhat poisonous throughout their entire body but can only emit rather weak venom from their stinger. Xiànqiú are not particularly well equipped for hunting prey and rely mostly upon feedings from either humans or their mother to survive.
Ariados have long, spindly legs with pale yellow and grey stripes. Ariados’ main body is covered in chaotic pale green and yellow patterns, often but not always with a black face marking on its back. Like most arachnids, ariados have eight legs. However, one pair is very small and located near their silk glands to manipulate and cut their silk. Spinarak and xiànqiú have only four legs, all in the traditional position. All subspecies of ariados gain two more legs on their back which they use to grab branches above them or other points on their web, as well as defend themselves better against birds and other aerial attackers.
Ariados have more pronounced mandibles and stingers than their juvenile form and their purple eyes are well known in Alola for glowing in the dark. Their venom is almost identical to that of spinarak, although their larger size allows them to possess more of it. Male ariados frequently grow up to two feet long and seventy pounds, with females reaching lengths of thirty inches and weights of 90 pounds.
Ālìduōsī are substantially larger than ariados. The females can reach lengths of up to four feet and weights of up to one hundred and sixty pounds. The smaller males only grow to three feet in length and weigh around 100 pounds. Their coloring is also notably brighter, consisting of yellow and pink stripes and patterns throughout their body with a very distinct black face marking on their back. Their mandibles and stinger are larger still than ariados’ and colored pure white. These were both traits ancient farmers selected for aesthetic reasons. While their juvenile form is still rather poisonous, the adults have roughly the same quantity of poison spread throughout a much larger body. It is speculated that their ancestors were, in fact, poisonous enough no bird would eat them and venomous enough they could kill an adult human in less than a day. Farmers probably selected against both traits at some point, as the risk of getting killed by their livestock was more important than the risk of their livestock being killed by birds.
Ariados silk is more difficult to work with and color than ālìduōsī silk, but it is also far stickier. Ālìduōsī silk can be stronger than steel and lighter than almost all other cloths. Ariados silk is less durable and lightweight, but they produce more of it relative to their mass. The stickiness of the silk makes it better for snaring prey and worse for clothing humans. Ariados silk is also thinner than their domestic counterparts. This makes their webs more difficult to see.
Ariados live up to two years in both the wild and captivity. Male ālìduōsī live up to three years in captivity and females live up to five years. No substantial wild population of ālìduōsī exists anywhere in the world.
Behavior
Wild spinarak old enough to have moved away from their mother’s web tend to stick to the canopy. They do not make proper webs, instead relying on small networks of tripwires to snare small bugs (pokémon and otherwise), young birds and small mammals and reptiles (mostly non-pokémon). The spinarak will either drop more strands onto their prey from above or shoot webbing at them from a foot or two away. They will then either finish the prey off with their mandibles or, if it is too large to end in a single bite or too dangerous to get close to, they will stand motionless near their prey until it falls asleep, at which point they will either sting the prey or kill it.
Ariados build elaborate webs spanning from the ground to the canopy. Their webs contain three distinct regions. The first is a dense “house” compartment that the ariados sleeps in during the day to avoid predators that could pick them off their web. The second is a typical spiderweb in the canopy spanning from branch to branch. This is used to capture birds and small creatures who unwittingly crash into it. The ariados will typically approach them from behind and either finish them off immediately or sting them to slow and sedate their prey so it doesn’t damage the web or alert other pokémon. The ariados will then eat the prey when it is hungry.
The third portion of an ariados web is a series of thin tripwires spread out near the forest floor. These wires are attached to spools higher up in the web that can contain up to three thousand feet of thread apiece. A snagged creature will continue moving on none the wiser until it reaches its nest or resting spot. The ariados will then stalk the forest floor at night, following the thread until it reaches not only their sleeping prey but likely their entire family. If the prey are too large, powerful or numerous to take on in one sitting, the ariados will simply craft a web around the den and wait, occasionally landing stings or bites when it is safe to do so. Eventually the prey will die from infection or starvation, or at least fall into a deep enough sleep from the venom’s effects that the ariados is comfortable killing them. Ariados can sometimes consume quantities greater than their body weight over the course of a week from these feasts.
While ariados and ālìduōsī can drink water, and often will in captivity, they are also quite capable of subsisting only off of their prey’s bodily fluids.
Ālìduōsī build elaborate structures more closely resembling a bird’s nest than a spider’s web. They prefer to find several nearby trees or bamboo poles and weave the structure between them, suspended entirely in midair. The exact form of the nest seems to be learned from the spider’s mother and other nearby spiders rather than being an instinctual habit. Ālìduōsī abandon their webs about once every six months and find a nearby location suitable for creating a new one. If their web is destroyed or severely damaged, they will abandon their current site prematurely. This is when their silk is harvested.
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Ālìduōsī do not actively hunt, but they will eat anything that lands in their web. Recently abandoned ālìduōsī in the wild have been observed scavenging nearby kills at night and retreating to their nest in the day.
Something many people find strange about both subspecies is how friendly they are towards people. Both seldom attack, much less kill, humans. Ālìduōsī and captive-raised ariados will often seek out and approach humans who enter their territory to greet them and beg for food. Some wild born ariados that have never had a trainer have also been observed doing this. Captive-born spinarak will happily climb all over their trainer and other familiar humans. Xiànqiú are more cowardly and are frequently under their mother’s watchful eye, but if they feel safe they sometimes will. Ariados have been known to attempt this but, given their large size, they usually fail and knock their trainer over. They then scurry away and hide out of either embarrassment or fear of retaliation.
Husbandry
All stages of the ariados line are carnivores, although they will eat plant-based treats. They can be fed pre-prepared food mixes such as dog, cat or insectivore food. Meat intended for human consumption, either cooked or raw, is also good. It is best to vary an ariados’ diet over time. Food should be used as a reward for good behavior to help tame them, especially if the spider was captured as an ariados. Placing food around the environment and making the ariados hunt for it is also good for their mental well-being and prevents them from becoming entirely sedentary.
In the wild ariados avoid defecating near their web as the scent alerts some prey species to the presence of spiders. Instead, the ariados leaves their web at night and walks up to two miles away (although usually no more than one, especially if they have young) to relieve themselves. If the ariados is a mother with young, she will bring the entire colony along either on her stomach, her back, or trailing behind her, depending upon the spinaraks’ age. It is remarkably easy to train ariados to defecate outside in captivity. This is also a chance for exercise, especially if the walk goes on somewhat longer than is strictly necessary. Ariados are very fond of long night walks and can be taught to hold a leash on one of their back legs.
Ariados will attempt to build webs almost anywhere they go. These can be difficult to clean up, even with expensive web dissolving fluids. It is best to keep ariados in their pokéball when staying in an indoor space you don’t own, or an outdoor space where you aren’t allowed to leave webs (check the rules or ask the owner everywhere you camp).
Ariados don’t mind their pokéballs in the day; spinarak prefer them. Ariados also don’t mind their pokéballs at night so long as they are also allowed a walk and given food as bribery.
Ālìduōsī and xiànqiú are generally calmer and lower maintenance. The exact diet they are fed in captivity is a trade secret, but it is known that they are omnivorous and that the plants in their diet are the key to the texture and quality of their silk. They seldom leave their webs but will defecate in a nearby receptacle. To learn more information, visit the Ālìduōsī Museum on Melemele Island near Plantation Point.
Neither species hibernates in Alola due to the warm temperatures. If the ariados is taken out of the Commonwealth during the winter or late fall, they may attempt to do so. This is a perfectly natural behavior. Consult a more specialized guide on insect hibernation for more details.
Illness
Insect diseases, especially parasitic diseases, are notably difficult to cure as much of modern medicine revolves around killing insects and other simple creatures. Due to their relationship to ālìduōsī, ariados diseases have some chance of being curable by at least one veterinarian in Alola’s larger cities. The most common symptoms of disease are red patches appearing behind the ariados’ stinger, the ariados obsessively scratching some portion of its body, anorexia, defects in their silk, an abrupt change in fecal color or consistency, or an abrupt change in temperament. If an ariados in Alola attempts to hibernate by retreating for a long period into a secluded, dark area that is not their own web, that could also be a sign of illness.
Consult a veterinarian as soon as any of these symptoms are observed.
Evolution
Spinarak grow to their full size over the course of roughly eight months for males and ten for females. There are no particularly rapid growth spurts or other abrupt changes involved in the transition. The formal demarcation line between spinarak and ariados is when their back legs grow long enough to touch each other.
Ālìduōsī grow to full size from xiànqiú in roughly six months. The formal demarcation line of evolution is the same as it is for spinarak and ariados.
Battle
Ālìduōsī are far more valuable as livestock than battlers and no one has ever seriously used one in a major competitive circuit. When they must defend themselves from battles, they use their hooked and somewhat pointed legs, especially the ones on their back, to defend themselves. They mostly avoid combat by staying inside of their tough, sticky webs.
Spinarak and ariados suffer from being ambush predators. In the wild the success or failure of their hunts is usually determined before the prey even knows the predator is there. They are not particularly bulky and their mandible strength and venom are nothing special for a pokémon. Ariados have a very tiny niche in competitive battling as they cast the strongest webs and are able to project them up to a five feet away. If ariados were fast enough to dodge hits and weave around the battlefield to reduce their opponent’s mobility, as galvantula can, they might be useful. The same would be true if they were bulky enough to move unimpeded regardless of what their opponent did to stop them. As neither is the case for ariados, their use on the circuits has been almost entirely confined to rising bug trainers who haven’t had the time, money or experience to train something better suited for competitive battling.
The headstone ariados has seen some usage in the few leagues where they are allowed. Their venom is one of the most painful and debilitating of any pokémon and they’re decently fast, which makes them an excellent wallbreaker against stall teams with bulky but weak pokémon. However, their venom’s potency has led to them being banned virtually everywhere. The notable exceptions are their native Johto and Kanto (they are traditional), Australia (everyone carries at least three venom counters per team), and some of the less established or regulated leagues (kills are an accepted part of the game).
On the island challenge ariados can still be useful. They are best used as web layers that create traps around the battlefield until they can no longer safely continue. Ariados silk is quite flammable unless chemically treated after production, but it is very durable and sticky. This makes it difficult for opponents to remove without a fire-type and lighting the battlefield on fire often creates more trouble than it’s worth. Of course, this will also slow down your own team members. They can be trained to navigate around the silk lines; your opponent’s team will likely have no such training. Be mindful that this does not particularly hinder most birds or pokémon that would never land on the battlefield anyway. More than one bug trainer has made the mistake of laying down ariados webs just to find out that it makes it even easier for an opponent with a bird to sweep them.
Acquisition
Spinarak can be captured, adopted or purchased with a Class I license. They are most commonly found in the forests of Melemele around Route 1. They can also be found in Alolan Rainforests National Preserve on Akala Island and the areas around Malie City, including the Malie Gardens. Ariados require a Class II license to capture, adopt or purchase. They are found in the same locations as spinarak.
Possession of a xiànqiú and ālìduōsī requires a Class III license as well as a federal background check and security clearance. They are treated as resources vital to national security and their ownership is heavily guarded as such.
Breeding
Two ariados that cross paths in the early spring will engage in a courtship ritual consisting of a mock fight, displaying their webs to each other and the male presenting his prospective mate with food. Should his efforts be successful, the female will take him back to her nest and mate with him. She will later lay her eggs into a special cavity located just behind the legs on his back. As the spinarak are born they will emerge from their eggs slightly larger than a quarter in diameter. They will eat the lining of the cavity for nutrition and, eventually, the rest of their father’s body. Once there is almost nothing left to consume, they will join their mother. Spinarak stay with their mother until they are roughly five months of age and a foot long. At this point they will leave their nest and wander the canopies until they evolve and begin forming a more permanent web. The female ariados will usually die of natural causes shortly after her offspring set off on their own.
Captive breeding of ariados requires the death of the male. Attempts to strategically withdraw the male after the eggs have been fertilized angers both parties: the females become temporarily hostile towards humans and the males enter a suicidal depression. The female will usually eat her own eggs if not allowed to lay them inside of the male. Breeding is initiated in captivity by introducing a male ariados to a female with a well-established web. There will be a fight and, should they choose to mate, the rest of the process goes on much as it does in the wild. The female should be allowed to stay in the same place until her young are at least a month old.
Ālìduōsī breeding is a trade and state secret revealed by Gracidea Clothiers or the Untied States government on a need-to-know basis.
Relatives
Aside from the Yangtze and Alolan ariados, four other variants have been documented.
There are two subspecies of the Japanese ariados. The Johtonian ariados more closely resembles the Yangtze ariados than the Alolan one in size and coloration. They are both poisonous and venomous and function primarily as ambush predators that eat anything unfortunate enough to collide with their relatively thin and translucent web. They do not sleep or rest on their web and prefer to wait in the nearby canopy to maximize the chances something accidentally sticks themselves in their trap.
The headstone ariados is a domestic breed created from the Johtonian ariados (itself created from feral Yangtze ariados). They have far more potent venom than any other subspecies but die shortly after stinging an opponent. The headstone ariados is the smallest of all subspecies, with females only growing up to eighteen inches. They were bred and maintained by secretive clans of assassins to quietly dispatch enemies in a reliable and reliably painful manner. The spinarak are both rather easy to train and quite small, making it easy for them to infiltrate even highly guarded structures and sting their prey before crawling a short distance to die in a hidden place. There is an antivenom for the headstone ariados but the clan that domesticated them refuses to give up the recipe, even under heavy international pressure following the death of the Kalosian Prime Minister to a headstone ariados sting on a visit to Saffron City.
An antivenom has since been independently created by researchers in Australia. With their preferred weapon suddenly blunted, the remnants of the headstone clans as well as their modern successors, the Yakuza and Team Rocket have begun selling headstone ariados to collectors, researchers and foreign governments for a hefty price.
The European ariados (L. minor) is a result of a 12th century king’s attempt to breed ariados for their silk, as he could not obtain ālìduōsī. The experiment failed, both due to the extreme difficulty of weaving with ariados silk and the presence of talonflame. The survivors ultimately retreated to caves, away from talonflame. They primarily trap and hunt bats and small rodents. The European ariados only grows up to twenty inches in length and their eyes have atrophied to near uselessness. They sense the world almost exclusively through the vibrations on their webs.
The third recognized species (L. terra) is native to the forests of Northeastern Australia. They are the descendants of another early attempt to breed the Yangtze Ariados on Pacific Islands, after substantial crossbreeding with local insect and spider species. The Queensland ariados are classified as dual bug- and ground- types and build their webs on the forest floor alongside an elaborate system of hidden pits and trapdoors. Unlike the Johtonian, European, and Alolan ariados, they will happily eat any humans that fall into their traps. Their reluctance to go above the earth’s surface makes them difficult prey for birds, but native and introduced fire types such as pyrotreemata and heatmor are quite happy to burn their nests and eat them as they flee.