The Speetle is a large, burrowing insect native to planet Sargasso in Rivet's dimension. They can not fly, but have evolved the ability to run across hazardous liquid surfaces and, if necessary, launch off ramps to glide for a short amount of time. On a planet filled with acid swamps and hungry Grunthors, this is a critical skill for survivial. They possess sixteen legs in total, with eight on each side of their body.
They first appear and are used at multiple locations in Rift Apart by Ratchet and Rivet as mounts to quickly traverse over dangerous surfaces. They can consistently be found inside Speetle Nests. Hitting one will cause a speetle to jump out.
It is not known if they also exist on the Sargasso of Ratchet and Clank's dimension, though similar creatures - anthropods and teratropes - do inhabit their universe.
History[]
Rift Apart[]
Whilst trying to get back to the Morts' Gelatonium plant, Rivet employs the use of a speetle to quickly get around Sargasso and save her friends from the Goons-4-Less. Later when a Seekerpede mistakenly abducts Clank, Rivet chases it down on a speetle; launching off ramps to get on its back and ram its flight stabilizer so she can ground the machine and battle it. At Zurkie's Battleplex, the bronze cup challenge "Bugtrax"/"Awesome Bugtrax Done Quick" has Rivet use a speetle to navigate a timed obstacle course through several rifts.
Ratchet first rides a speetle on planet Ardolis to quickly cross the planet's dangerous waters to reach the Pirate Trials. Here, he and Clank find out that the Space Pirates have been poaching speetles and using them to make their favorite beverage; grog. Soon after at the second Pirate Trial, they find the trial out of order and the skeleton of a Grunthor named Snoojax. The creature evidently starved to death after it's food dispenser of speetles broke and stopped working. On the second visit to planet Savali in a race to get the Dimensional Map before Emperor Nefarious, Ratchet and Clank use a speetle to navigate the planet's underground catacombs and traverse through the aqueducts full of copious amounts of hazardous green goo. The goo is a bi-product of something but this is not expounded on by Gary, as he considered it not important.
Rivet rides speetles in two optional pocket dimensions; one on Torren IV and another on Viceron.
Controls[]
Upon either manually jumping onto its back or pressing 
to do so, the speetle will automatically run forward and can be turned left and right with 
. Holding 
will make Ratchet or Rivet smack the speetle on its abdomen, causing it to accelerate at high speeds. If the Speetle collides with a solid surface, Ratchet or Rivet will be knocked off of it and it will burrow beneath itself to escape. The speetle can be dismounted at any time by pressing 
.
Behind the scenes[]
In the announcement trailer for Rift Apart, Ratchet and Clank ride a speetle on Sargasso to escape some Nefarious Troopers whilst trying to locate their ship.[1]