This list is incomplete. There are some interesting new plant and vermin options, I think they were released in UW.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and tell you you're all playing it wrong. The automatic bonus progression system cures this World of Warcraft disease where everyone is constantly looking for a sword/headband/belt/amulet of +X. Under this system which we should all be using anyway animals don't recieve auto bonuses and +X items don't really exist, so this body slot difference doesn't matter as much.
Back to the matter of which vermin companion is best for the verminous hunter, maybe the answer is none. The vermin focus abilities are interesting and taking a dead companion's focus is effective, especially if you take a second archetype (patient ambusher?) that swaps out all the teamwork stuff.
What the...
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I have a verminous hunter that uses the scorpion. It's not the best, but heres why i like it. I am a helpful halfling with a naginata. I use my action from behind my scorpion, will eventually ride it, to aid it's grapple check, giving it a +11 to grapple at level 1. So as long as it hits, we can keep one foe out of the fight, additionally, if i can, i will go to flank giving it the bonus, as well as the aid another for a bonus to hit and +6 to grapple.
The biggest issue I see with a vermin, is in order to give them any feats or skills, you must first give them an intelligence score. I plan on doing so as soon as i can, adding a headband slot, and giving it some actual intelligence and focusing on it's grappling ability. Once iot becomes capable of doing so quite regularly without my help, I can begin helping my allies. It's not an op build, but i have shined in every encounter i have brought it in so far.
I also used the halfling alternate racial to give it a bonus to strength, to make it a bit more useful.
Also It may not be what anyone would consider optimal but the beetle is a decently tanky bucket of natural armor. On top of this it can fly. As far as I know, these traits are very hard to find on the same creature.
I have a verminous hunter that uses the scorpion. It's not the best, but heres why i like it. I am a helpful halfling with a naginata. I use my action from behind my scorpion, will eventually ride it, to aid it's grapple check, giving it a +11 to grapple at level 1. So as long as it hits, we can keep one foe out of the fight, additionally, if i can, i will go to flank giving it the bonus, as well as the aid another for a bonus to hit and +6 to grapple.
The biggest issue I see with a vermin, is in order to give them any feats or skills, you must first give them an intelligence score. I plan on doing so as soon as i can, adding a headband slot, and giving it some actual intelligence and focusing on it's grappling ability. Once iot becomes capable of doing so quite regularly without my help, I can begin helping my allies. It's not an op build, but i have shined in every encounter i have brought it in so far.
I also used the halfling alternate racial to give it a bonus to strength, to make it a bit more useful.
Just realized this was still here, and it oudated. I grew a brain upon actual usage and changed to caretaker halfling to add +2 to intelligence at start to scorpion. At 4 it will get the third point it needs to begin imp. grapple stuffs.
Humans also have a racial change that can boost a companions stats by 2, and helps offset the difficulty of your vermin handling. I am also planning on taking animal soul, so if the spell cant affect halflings or vermin, it doesnt affect me unless i want it to.
Does that mean they'd be susceptible to mind-affecting stuff now?
I believe they lose the "mindless" aspect of being a vermin by the time you put a int-point in their head, though i still not sure if they count as a "animal" for those kind of feats, but they would be susceptible to spells with generic targeting.