Life In The Undergrowth
Season 1 Episode 01 "Invasion of the Land" Just over 400 million years ago, creatures left the sea to move on to land. They were the invertebrates.
Since then, they have become the most successful group of animals, adapting to every environment on Earth. Now, for every human, there are 1.6 billion of them.
Their largely unseen world is revealed as David Attenborough tells the story of the land living invertebrates.
New technology means that cameras have been able to show invertebrates in extraordinary detail, revealing for the first time the courtship dances of tiny springtails and the way they can catapult themselves away from danger.
These tiny creatures can be found on garden plants, in leaf litter and in gutters but, until now, their amazing acrobatic skills have gone unnoticed as some are only the size of a full stop.
Another common garden resident is the leopard slug which has a truly bizarre end to its marathon mating ritual. Both male and female slugs inflate huge blue penises and later lay eggs.
Travelling further afield, the rains of South Africa bring out swarms of bright red millipedes to find partners, and, in the caves of Venezuela, giant bat-eating centipedes lie in wait for their meal. These creatures, which can grow up to 13 inches, long capture bats on the cave ceilings.
Insects can have a softer side to them, too. In one species of harvestman in Panama it is the males, rather than the females, that take care of the young.
Since then, they have become the most successful group of animals, adapting to every environment on Earth. Now, for every human, there are 1.6 billion of them.
Their largely unseen world is revealed as David Attenborough tells the story of the land living invertebrates.
New technology means that cameras have been able to show invertebrates in extraordinary detail, revealing for the first time the courtship dances of tiny springtails and the way they can catapult themselves away from danger.
These tiny creatures can be found on garden plants, in leaf litter and in gutters but, until now, their amazing acrobatic skills have gone unnoticed as some are only the size of a full stop.
Another common garden resident is the leopard slug which has a truly bizarre end to its marathon mating ritual. Both male and female slugs inflate huge blue penises and later lay eggs.
Travelling further afield, the rains of South Africa bring out swarms of bright red millipedes to find partners, and, in the caves of Venezuela, giant bat-eating centipedes lie in wait for their meal. These creatures, which can grow up to 13 inches, long capture bats on the cave ceilings.
Insects can have a softer side to them, too. In one species of harvestman in Panama it is the males, rather than the females, that take care of the young.
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