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Bugs. They fascinate us.
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They frighten us.
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Some are as big as dinner plates,
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others as dangerous as the plague.
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And I love'em!
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G'day. I'm Ruud Kleinpaste, the Bugman.
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And the opportunity
to go looking for bugs...
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...as big as bugs can get and
as bad as bugs can get...
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...was an opportunity
too good to miss.
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Aah, he got me! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
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I'll do whatever it takes
to get down to bugs' level...
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...so I can understand
why some bugs become so big...
13
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...and others turn so bad...
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...on world's Biggest and Baddest Bugs.
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I begin with a journey
in search of the world's biggest bugs.
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I'm going to need all my experience
as an entomologist...
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...if I'm to uncover their secret
hiding places, avoid danger,
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and discover why some bugs
can get to be as long as your arm...
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...and the very biggest can be
the size of a small cat.
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First up, the biggest cockroach
in the world.
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Ugh!
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Oh!
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This is what we always think of
as giant bugs.
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Yuh!
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You know, there's monsters
that lurk under the floorboards...
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and in your kitchen cupboards.
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Ugh.
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These ain't no giants.
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These are giants.
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But don't worry.
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You're not going to find these
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anywhere near your kitchen cupboard.
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This is where they occur.
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My search for giants brings me
to the Australian outback.
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You got to be tough to live out here.
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Whew! It's hot.
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Ah. Now. Ah, ah.
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Come over here.
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See this?
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There's some dry soil here
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sort of, like, recently excavated.
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What I'm looking for is
the giant burrowing cockroach.
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Most cockroaches are too easy to find.
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These giants aren't.
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They live only in Queensland
and only in burrows.
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See? Oh ho ho!
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Oh, come on. Don't be...
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Oh, don't be a spoilsport!
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I got him. Got him, got him, got him.
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Righto. Now, there we are.
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Ow. Spiky legs, all right.
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That is what I call a cockroach.
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Look at it. Might not even be full-grown.
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And by the looks of it, it's a male.
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It's a boy.
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Ohh.
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How long? About 3 inches.
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See this little lip here?
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That means it's a male, and it can dig.
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It's like having your hat like this
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and dig out with your thorax -
your prothorax.
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Isn't that gorgeous?
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These cockroaches don't come
to town, thank goodness.
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They're strictly country cousins,
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and they burrow.
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They can burrow through
tightly compacted soil
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like mini excavators.
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Now, underneath is the head.
It's always protected.
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00:03:13,159 --> 00:03:14,793
And you know what?
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It feels nice and cool,
and it feels nice and moist.
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And that is a dead giveaway
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why these cockroaches live underground.
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Compared to the 90-plus-degrees
heat outside,
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their burrows are as cool as wine cellars.
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And like a good wine,
giant cockroaches age well.
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They live for up to 10 years.
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The roach in your kitchen lives
only for two.
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00:03:42,922 --> 00:03:44,423
Even more remarkable
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is that mother giant roaches
give birth to live young.
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Now, this is very unusual for cockroaches.
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Others lay eggs.
82
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And she looks after her young
for up to nine months.
83
00:03:57,570 --> 00:04:01,740
But why do these junior roaches
grow up to be giants?
84
00:04:01,908 --> 00:04:05,277
Well, it's a mystery, but scientists think
85
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it could have something to do with moisture.
86
00:04:07,780 --> 00:04:09,348
[Thunder crashes]
87
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The biggest cockroaches are found
where more rain falls.
88
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When it rains, they all
come out of their burrows
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to meet, to mate, and to move on.
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This is the only time
when they won't dry out
91
00:04:27,500 --> 00:04:30,736
in the fierce Australian heat.
92
00:04:30,903 --> 00:04:32,371
So the moment it rains, they come out,
93
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they gather up all these leaves
from around here -
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00:04:34,674 --> 00:04:37,008
eucalyptus leaves and
anything they can find -
95
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and take them down in the burrow.
96
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And these leaves are dead,
old, dried leaves.
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Mmh. Mmh.
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Dry?
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They taste like dead, old, dried leaves.
100
00:04:51,491 --> 00:04:52,891
Not something that I could live on,
101
00:04:53,059 --> 00:04:54,993
but these roaches can.
102
00:04:55,161 --> 00:04:57,796
This guy has had a heck of a day today.
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00:04:57,964 --> 00:05:00,365
Exciting, mind you, but in the process,
104
00:05:00,533 --> 00:05:02,601
we've destroyed its burrow totally.
105
00:05:02,769 --> 00:05:05,570
Now, luckily, I've found
a burrow here that's deserted.
106
00:05:05,738 --> 00:05:08,073
You can always tell a deserted burrow
because it's open.
107
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It's never closed off.
108
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So I'm gonna let him go here.
Successful relocation.
109
00:05:12,879 --> 00:05:14,813
Ah, put a leaf in for good measure,
for some food.
110
00:05:14,981 --> 00:05:15,814
Away you go.
111
00:05:15,982 --> 00:05:20,085
Giant cockroaches are big,
but I've only just begun my search.
112
00:05:20,253 --> 00:05:22,721
And the next bug helps answer the question,
113
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"Why aren't bugs as big as buses?"
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Dragonflies.
115
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I love them because they're so ancient.
116
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They were flying around
300 million years ago.
117
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That's the time when coal was deposited.
118
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Can you imagine?
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Another thing I like about dragonflies
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is that they used to be
much larger than this.
121
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Oh, yeah, once they were
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the largest flying insect in the world.
123
00:06:03,529 --> 00:06:07,365
Now, of course, this is a much smaller
21 st-century model.
124
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It's the hawker dragonfly.
A robust little fellow.
125
00:06:11,304 --> 00:06:12,571
But I'd like you to meet
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00:06:12,738 --> 00:06:18,043
a long and slender cousin of this one
the helicopter damselfly.
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00:06:18,211 --> 00:06:23,448
The very first flying insects appeared
about 350 million years ago.
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There were giant dragonflies
the size of eagles
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and damselflies the size of hawks.
130
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So, what happened? Why did they shrink?
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My journey to find out begins in Panama.
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Near water should be the perfect place
to find the giant helicopter damselfly.
133
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They gather around fallen logs
134
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because logs have holes
that will fill up with water,
135
00:06:53,913 --> 00:06:58,316
and females come to
these tiny pools to lay eggs.
136
00:06:58,484 --> 00:07:03,255
And where there are females,
there are big males.
137
00:07:07,260 --> 00:07:09,794
Males are superb fliers.
138
00:07:09,962 --> 00:07:13,465
They hover over their ponds
like mini helicopters.
139
00:07:15,001 --> 00:07:17,402
And if they receive unwelcome visitors,
140
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they become attack helicopters.
141
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Got him! [Cackles]
142
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Why do they get so big? Well, very simple.
143
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Areas like this and habitats
like these tree trunks
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don't come around very often,
and they are worth fighting for.
145
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So if you're a big male,
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you got a better chance of securing a female
147
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with such a piece of real estate.
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Believe it or not,
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these helicopters are
the biggest in the world.
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Body length - around 4 inches.
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Wingspan - 31/2.
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In the past - and we know
this from fossil records -
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damselflies got a lot, lot bigger.
154
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About a size like that.
155
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And why was that?
156
00:08:06,252 --> 00:08:08,920
Well, one simple reason - oxygen.
157
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We humans have evolved in
an atmosphere with only 20% oxygen.
158
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We're used to it.
159
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That's enough for me
to cycle hard for five minutes,
160
00:08:20,833 --> 00:08:22,467
no problems.
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I feel okay.
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Enough oxygen here, you know.
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[Breathing heavily]
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But damselflies -
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and their close relations, the dragonflies -
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evolved long ago,
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when there was twice
as much oxygen as there is today.
168
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Now, with more oxygen,
flying insects became giants.
169
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Imagine dragonflies with a 2-foot wingspan.
170
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Then imagine what happened
when the world's oxygen levels halved.
171
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Scientists think that decomposing
bacteria and fungi
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began using a lot more of it.
173
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With less oxygen in the air,
the insect shrunk.
174
00:09:04,944 --> 00:09:07,946
Now, if lowering oxygen can shrink a bug,
175
00:09:08,114 --> 00:09:11,816
I'd like to know, what could it do to me?
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I've asked my TV crew to find me
a hyperbaric chamber.
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These help scuba divers recover
from the bends by increasing oxygen.
178
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Now, for me, they will reduce it by half.
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When I take off my mask,
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it will be like trying to breathe
on top of Mount Everest.
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Here we go.
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Ugh!
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Oh, it's tough.
184
00:09:41,614 --> 00:09:44,049
As soon as I start pedaling, I want to stop.
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I have no energy.
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After a minute, my heart is thumping,
187
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and by two minutes, I can't get enough air.
188
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My muscles are screaming in pain.
189
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21/2 minutes gone.
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Ohh. 57% oxygen in my blood.
It's a lot less.
191
00:10:03,102 --> 00:10:06,404
So it's really getting tough.
192
00:10:06,572 --> 00:10:08,306
How are you feeling?
193
00:10:08,474 --> 00:10:11,576
Really tired. And a bit headachey.
194
00:10:11,744 --> 00:10:16,247
I'm worried how less oxygen
will affect my brain.
195
00:10:16,415 --> 00:10:18,917
You see, our brains only weigh
2% of our body weight
196
00:10:19,085 --> 00:10:22,821
but use nearly 20% of all the oxygen
we breathe.
197
00:10:22,988 --> 00:10:23,988
Without enough oxygen,
198
00:10:24,156 --> 00:10:29,294
we'd suffer memory loss,
blindness, and blackout.
199
00:10:33,866 --> 00:10:35,800
Can I go back now?
200
00:10:37,203 --> 00:10:38,236
I want to go back.
201
00:10:38,404 --> 00:10:40,538
I'm gonna go back. Hang on.
202
00:10:41,540 --> 00:10:43,274
[Breathing heavily]
203
00:10:44,877 --> 00:10:47,312
I - I tell you what -
204
00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,014
Out here it feels like I'm in a...
205
00:10:50,182 --> 00:10:53,618
in an enormous carbon dioxide
or nitrogen bubble,
206
00:10:53,786 --> 00:10:55,754
and I can't get enough air.
207
00:10:55,921 --> 00:10:59,791
I - I - I do need air.
208
00:10:59,959 --> 00:11:02,927
You need air to perform.
209
00:11:03,095 --> 00:11:06,164
You need air - you need air to...
210
00:11:06,332 --> 00:11:09,768
Trying to work without enough oxygen
is the worst feeling.
211
00:11:09,935 --> 00:11:12,537
I want to cry. I want to sleep.
212
00:11:12,705 --> 00:11:14,806
I feel terrible.
213
00:11:16,675 --> 00:11:20,078
But my problems are really small
compared to bugs.
214
00:11:20,246 --> 00:11:22,881
Their respiration is inefficient.
215
00:11:23,048 --> 00:11:25,350
They carry little oxygen in their blood,
216
00:11:25,518 --> 00:11:27,152
and they rely on air coming in
217
00:11:27,319 --> 00:11:32,757
through tiny portholes, or spiracles,
along the sides of their bodies.
218
00:11:32,925 --> 00:11:34,993
So a bug's size is limited
219
00:11:35,161 --> 00:11:38,396
by the amount of oxygen it can absorb.
220
00:11:43,369 --> 00:11:45,270
My search for the biggest bug
221
00:11:45,437 --> 00:11:47,772
takes me back to Queensland, Australia.
222
00:11:47,940 --> 00:11:49,574
If I were to describe to you
223
00:11:49,742 --> 00:11:52,410
an insect that can grow
up to 8 inches in length,
224
00:11:52,578 --> 00:11:56,481
has perfect 360-degree vision,
225
00:11:56,649 --> 00:12:01,152
lightning-fast reflexes both
in attack and in defense,
226
00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,788
what do you think
such an insect would look like?
227
00:12:03,956 --> 00:12:06,524
You guessed it. A praying mantis.
228
00:12:06,692 --> 00:12:09,327
A predator that can blend into the foliage,
229
00:12:09,495 --> 00:12:11,296
stay still as a statue,
230
00:12:11,463 --> 00:12:16,701
but then strike fast enough
to catch flies and wasps in midair.
231
00:12:18,103 --> 00:12:20,004
Praying mantis's weapons of choice
232
00:12:20,172 --> 00:12:22,674
are their pairs of extraordinary front legs
233
00:12:22,842 --> 00:12:25,109
that are like spring-loaded jackknives.
234
00:12:25,277 --> 00:12:28,947
They use them to lunge
and then hold their victims.
235
00:12:29,114 --> 00:12:30,114
It's amazing.
236
00:12:30,282 --> 00:12:33,718
This praying mantis has given
two of her six legs...
237
00:12:33,886 --> 00:12:35,887
...and modified them
to such an extent
238
00:12:36,055 --> 00:12:37,989
that they're only killing machines.
239
00:12:39,358 --> 00:12:42,527
But as skilled and as lethal as
these predators are,
240
00:12:42,695 --> 00:12:44,729
they must be very careful...
241
00:12:44,897 --> 00:12:48,333
...not to end up as the prey
of much bigger killers.
242
00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:51,302
So how do praying mantises avoid ending up
243
00:12:51,470 --> 00:12:54,505
on other predators' breakfast tables?
244
00:12:54,673 --> 00:12:57,675
Their first line of defense is camouflage.
245
00:12:59,011 --> 00:13:01,546
All mantises blend into their environment,
246
00:13:01,714 --> 00:13:05,650
but few go as far as the orchid mantis.
247
00:13:05,818 --> 00:13:09,120
It even sways like an orchid in the breeze.
248
00:13:09,288 --> 00:13:13,224
It can also hide in papaya
and frangipani flowers.
249
00:13:13,392 --> 00:13:16,928
Even its legs are shaped like petals.
250
00:13:17,096 --> 00:13:19,831
Just beautiful.
251
00:13:23,135 --> 00:13:26,404
But praying mantises have
another trick up their sleeves.
252
00:13:26,572 --> 00:13:30,408
When cornered by predators
- even much bigger ones -
253
00:13:30,576 --> 00:13:34,112
they will stand and fight.
254
00:13:41,487 --> 00:13:44,389
So size is not a big deal
to a praying mantis.
255
00:13:44,556 --> 00:13:45,790
It's attitude.
256
00:13:45,958 --> 00:13:48,860
And no matter how big
or how small the mantis,
257
00:13:49,028 --> 00:13:52,030
inside they all think they are giants.
258
00:13:52,197 --> 00:13:56,234
So how can a small mantis beat a big enemy?
259
00:13:56,402 --> 00:13:59,103
Well, my TV crew has sent me
on a mystery mission
260
00:13:59,271 --> 00:14:00,471
to discover their secret.
261
00:14:00,639 --> 00:14:04,342
I'm to receive my instructions
via text message.
262
00:14:05,177 --> 00:14:06,678
"Prepare 4 combat!
263
00:14:06,845 --> 00:14:10,348
Tiffany, your host, is the mantis... "
264
00:14:10,516 --> 00:14:12,417
Ha ha ha.
265
00:14:12,584 --> 00:14:15,253
[Chuckling] Oh, I get it.
266
00:14:15,421 --> 00:14:18,423
Tiffany is an exponent of mantis kung fu,
267
00:14:18,590 --> 00:14:20,525
and I've got to fight her.
268
00:14:24,029 --> 00:14:25,596
Are you sure I'm gonna need all this?
269
00:14:25,764 --> 00:14:28,232
Yes. You'll need it.
270
00:14:29,101 --> 00:14:31,569
"Your challenge is to pin her arms
271
00:14:31,737 --> 00:14:33,871
for just one second. "
272
00:14:36,442 --> 00:14:38,242
AII I know about mantis kung fu
273
00:14:38,410 --> 00:14:41,980
is that it was developed hundreds of
years ago by a Chinese student
274
00:14:42,147 --> 00:14:45,149
who closely watched the moves
of the praying mantis.
275
00:14:45,317 --> 00:14:50,054
There's something like 12 arm
moves copied from the praying mantis.
276
00:14:50,222 --> 00:14:52,690
Hmm. Her technique looks really good.
277
00:14:52,858 --> 00:14:54,659
But my arms are longer.
278
00:15:28,727 --> 00:15:29,961
Ah. Ha ha.
279
00:15:31,196 --> 00:15:32,196
Ding!
280
00:15:45,944 --> 00:15:46,944
Ugh!
281
00:15:47,112 --> 00:15:49,480
Oh, I give up. Give up.
282
00:15:50,883 --> 00:15:52,550
Shows you, though,
283
00:15:52,718 --> 00:15:55,753
when you're small and you got technique,
284
00:15:55,921 --> 00:15:57,722
you can battle just about anything.
285
00:15:57,890 --> 00:16:00,958
I mean, I'm no slouch. Pbht!
286
00:16:01,126 --> 00:16:02,927
But this was too quick. This was technique.
287
00:16:03,095 --> 00:16:07,365
This was small, fast, and furious.
288
00:16:08,934 --> 00:16:12,203
Inside every praying mantis
beats the heart of a giant.
289
00:16:12,371 --> 00:16:14,472
Next, bugs that are not only big
290
00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,607
but tough when the going gets cold.
291
00:16:23,115 --> 00:16:26,451
A bug with tusks? Yeah, that's right.
292
00:16:26,618 --> 00:16:29,053
They're on the face of a tusked weta.
293
00:16:29,221 --> 00:16:31,489
Wetas are related to crickets
and grasshoppers,
294
00:16:31,657 --> 00:16:34,859
and tusked weta males
use their tusks for fighting,
295
00:16:35,027 --> 00:16:38,262
just like male elephants or walrus.
296
00:16:41,567 --> 00:16:44,102
They fight for territory and for females.
297
00:16:44,269 --> 00:16:46,104
And battles like this have been going on
298
00:16:46,271 --> 00:16:49,207
for nearly 300 million years.
299
00:16:49,374 --> 00:16:52,910
They are truly, truly ancient.
300
00:16:53,078 --> 00:16:54,212
Wetas might be ancient,
301
00:16:54,379 --> 00:16:56,647
but they're still being
discovered in New Zealand
302
00:16:56,815 --> 00:16:57,849
as we speak.
303
00:16:58,016 --> 00:16:59,450
This creature is the tusked weta.
304
00:16:59,618 --> 00:17:02,153
It was only found a few years ago.
305
00:17:02,321 --> 00:17:04,555
It's rare. It is very, very rare -
306
00:17:04,723 --> 00:17:06,491
...so rare that they're breeding
it in captivity
307
00:17:06,658 --> 00:17:08,292
so that, in a few years' time,
308
00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:10,928
this fellow might have
a few more females to fight over.
309
00:17:11,096 --> 00:17:13,798
Now, wouldn't that be
a good idea, my friend?
310
00:17:16,835 --> 00:17:21,038
Tusked wetas are one of
several different wetas in New Zealand.
311
00:17:22,274 --> 00:17:25,409
They include giants like this.
312
00:17:27,012 --> 00:17:30,348
Giant wetas are super heavy
weights of the bug world.
313
00:17:30,516 --> 00:17:32,583
And because they weigh more than 3 ounces,
314
00:17:32,751 --> 00:17:36,621
they're right up there amongst
the world's heaviest bugs.
315
00:17:38,991 --> 00:17:41,592
But by far the coolest weta of them all
316
00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,529
lives to the south of here
in the mountains of New Zealand.
317
00:17:44,696 --> 00:17:47,932
And when I say "cool," I mean cool.
318
00:17:49,201 --> 00:17:53,070
The mountain weta survives
under the ice all winter long.
319
00:17:53,238 --> 00:17:56,040
And when spring comes
and the sun thaws the ice,
320
00:17:56,208 --> 00:17:59,810
it emerges from its frozen tomb,
just like magic.
321
00:17:59,978 --> 00:18:01,579
But it is not magic.
322
00:18:01,747 --> 00:18:03,614
You see, the weta has special chemicals
323
00:18:03,782 --> 00:18:08,252
that prevent harmful ice crystals
forming within its cells.
324
00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:12,790
Now, that was a clever trick.
Could I do that?
325
00:18:13,458 --> 00:18:17,261
So I can appreciate the alpine
conditions wetas cope with,
326
00:18:17,429 --> 00:18:19,129
I've come to a human-performance center,
327
00:18:19,297 --> 00:18:22,900
where Dr. John Marsden will let me
experience what it is like
328
00:18:23,068 --> 00:18:24,968
to be in the mountains
in the middle of winter.
329
00:18:25,136 --> 00:18:27,671
And like wetas, I'll have no clothes,
330
00:18:27,839 --> 00:18:30,407
except for a pair of shorts for modesty.
331
00:18:30,575 --> 00:18:33,811
The freezer has been set to
16 degrees Fahrenheit,
332
00:18:33,978 --> 00:18:35,979
or minus-8 Celsius.
333
00:18:36,147 --> 00:18:39,049
And the cold hits me like a brick.
334
00:18:39,217 --> 00:18:41,752
We are not built for the cold.
335
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:43,087
If our temperatures drop
336
00:18:43,254 --> 00:18:45,489
more than just a few degrees for too long,
337
00:18:45,657 --> 00:18:48,092
we get hypothermia, which can kill us.
338
00:18:48,259 --> 00:18:50,294
But all it would do to the mountain weta
339
00:18:50,462 --> 00:18:53,163
would be to slow it down a bit.
340
00:18:53,331 --> 00:18:54,631
To the old mountain weta,
341
00:18:54,799 --> 00:18:56,533
this must be like the first day of winter,
342
00:18:56,701 --> 00:18:59,336
and they're just getting into their game.
343
00:18:59,504 --> 00:19:02,039
[Chuckles] I'm starting to conk out.
344
00:19:02,207 --> 00:19:04,007
They thrive at these sort of temperatures.
345
00:19:04,175 --> 00:19:05,642
It's unbelievable.
346
00:19:05,810 --> 00:19:07,511
But I have to keep warm,
347
00:19:07,679 --> 00:19:09,813
and I can do that by running and jumping
348
00:19:09,981 --> 00:19:13,617
because when my muscles are working,
they generate heat.
349
00:19:18,223 --> 00:19:21,525
By 15 minutes, running can't keep me
warm anymore.
350
00:19:21,693 --> 00:19:23,627
This is where the weta and I differ.
351
00:19:23,795 --> 00:19:25,829
You see, the weta will continue cooling
352
00:19:25,997 --> 00:19:28,632
until it is as cold as ice -
353
00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,836
not moving, not eating, as if it was dead.
354
00:19:33,004 --> 00:19:34,238
I can't do that.
355
00:19:34,405 --> 00:19:36,907
I must stay warm if I'm to survive.
356
00:19:37,075 --> 00:19:40,077
I'm literally freezing from the outside in.
357
00:19:40,245 --> 00:19:42,980
As I get colder, my body
sacrifices my outer layer
358
00:19:43,148 --> 00:19:47,951
to keep my center part warm,
particularly my heart and brain.
359
00:19:49,888 --> 00:19:52,022
But my brain's already cooling.
360
00:19:52,190 --> 00:19:55,559
John's math tests are becoming impossible.
361
00:19:55,727 --> 00:19:57,628
44 plus 18.
362
00:19:57,796 --> 00:20:00,397
[Softly] 44 and 18. 44 and 18...
363
00:20:04,536 --> 00:20:07,805
60-something - 2.
364
00:20:07,972 --> 00:20:09,206
59 plus 21.
365
00:20:09,374 --> 00:20:11,375
[Sighs]
366
00:20:11,543 --> 00:20:13,610
Oh, 59...
367
00:20:13,778 --> 00:20:16,446
80- 80.
368
00:20:16,614 --> 00:20:19,550
Okay, that took over a minute
there to get those done,
369
00:20:19,717 --> 00:20:21,718
so we're getting pretty near the edge here.
370
00:20:21,886 --> 00:20:23,320
If the temperature goes much lower,
371
00:20:23,488 --> 00:20:25,322
then we'll pull you out of there.
372
00:20:25,490 --> 00:20:26,824
Okay.
373
00:20:29,326 --> 00:20:30,559
Ruud, do you want to tell us
374
00:20:30,727 --> 00:20:33,095
how you're feeling at the moment?
375
00:20:33,263 --> 00:20:35,998
I don't think I've ever been this cold.
376
00:20:36,166 --> 00:20:40,102
It really hurts my ears
and my hands and my fingers.
377
00:20:42,105 --> 00:20:44,407
It's actually quite awful.
378
00:20:44,574 --> 00:20:46,342
I think it's about time to pull out now.
379
00:20:46,510 --> 00:20:49,445
Okay. Come and get me.
380
00:20:49,613 --> 00:20:53,149
My core temperature is now lowering,
and that's critical.
381
00:20:53,316 --> 00:20:56,118
It's reached a point where to go any lower
382
00:20:56,286 --> 00:20:57,853
would be very dangerous.
383
00:20:58,021 --> 00:21:01,390
Ahh. [Sighs]
384
00:21:01,558 --> 00:21:03,325
Ah, the sun.
385
00:21:03,493 --> 00:21:05,861
Warm. Ooh.
386
00:21:06,029 --> 00:21:08,130
I had to get out of there.
387
00:21:08,298 --> 00:21:09,765
I had to get out.
388
00:21:09,933 --> 00:21:12,735
That mountain weta has got
an ability that I cannot match.
389
00:21:12,903 --> 00:21:16,439
I suppose that's one up for the bugs, eh?
390
00:21:21,913 --> 00:21:24,114
My search for the world's biggest bug
391
00:21:24,282 --> 00:21:28,319
now takes me to the Venezuelan
rainforest in the rain.
392
00:21:31,456 --> 00:21:33,791
This is what rainforest is all about,
393
00:21:33,959 --> 00:21:38,762
and these are conditions
that the next creature really likes.
394
00:21:38,930 --> 00:21:40,197
Have a look at this.
395
00:21:40,365 --> 00:21:42,766
We're going large now, man. Look at this.
396
00:21:42,934 --> 00:21:46,470
61/2, maybe 7 inch of the giant millipede.
397
00:21:46,638 --> 00:21:49,173
Beautiful creature. Very thin-skinned.
398
00:21:49,341 --> 00:21:52,343
This is why it cannot afford
to lose much moisture.
399
00:21:52,510 --> 00:21:53,978
This is why it likes to be hidden
400
00:21:54,145 --> 00:21:55,980
and comes out when it rains.
401
00:21:56,147 --> 00:21:59,216
Look at it move, will you?
Isn't it just spectacular?
402
00:21:59,384 --> 00:22:03,721
So graceful the way
all these legs are coordinated.
403
00:22:14,699 --> 00:22:17,868
Now, as I said, they are totally
harmless to human beings.
404
00:22:18,036 --> 00:22:19,737
But there is a similar sort of species
405
00:22:19,904 --> 00:22:22,706
that, uh, hmm, needs a little bit more care
406
00:22:22,874 --> 00:22:24,608
when you encounter it.
407
00:22:28,013 --> 00:22:29,613
[Indistinct shouting]
408
00:22:29,781 --> 00:22:31,815
Something down the road.
They found something.
409
00:22:34,219 --> 00:22:36,286
Whoa.
410
00:22:36,454 --> 00:22:37,554
[Speaking Spanish]
411
00:22:37,722 --> 00:22:39,156
What's that?
412
00:22:39,324 --> 00:22:40,724
Con cuidado.
413
00:22:40,892 --> 00:22:42,292
Let's have a look.
414
00:22:42,460 --> 00:22:44,128
Be careful, be careful.
415
00:22:45,730 --> 00:22:48,565
Oh, no. There it is - giant centipede.
416
00:22:48,733 --> 00:22:49,633
Hang on, hang on.
417
00:22:49,801 --> 00:22:53,137
Don't - Hang on. Here we go.
418
00:22:53,304 --> 00:22:56,740
You don't want that to go away.
That is a mean predator.
419
00:22:56,908 --> 00:22:58,676
That is one of those ones
420
00:22:58,843 --> 00:22:59,977
that you don't put your hands in front.
421
00:23:00,145 --> 00:23:02,079
You treat him with respect.
422
00:23:02,247 --> 00:23:05,349
And once it's disturbed,
it raises its hind legs
423
00:23:05,517 --> 00:23:06,950
because it's in the defense mode.
424
00:23:07,118 --> 00:23:09,153
And, boy, it's got fangs. Mwah!
425
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:10,754
Like this. Like knives and forks.
426
00:23:10,922 --> 00:23:12,690
You don't want to be...
427
00:23:20,031 --> 00:23:22,800
I'll show you what you don't do.
You don't touch centipedes.
428
00:23:22,967 --> 00:23:24,902
But you can, if you're careful,
stroke the back.
429
00:23:25,070 --> 00:23:26,704
Oopsy-daisy.
430
00:23:26,871 --> 00:23:28,872
Huffy-puffy. Bit of a temper here.
431
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,375
Oops. [Chuckles] Thank you.
432
00:23:31,543 --> 00:23:33,544
Look. See that? And then these rear legs.
433
00:23:33,712 --> 00:23:36,346
Now, if I would do this
with the rear legs, it would grab me,
434
00:23:36,514 --> 00:23:39,717
turn around, make a figure of eight,
and bite me.
435
00:23:39,884 --> 00:23:41,185
There's no doubt about it.
436
00:23:41,352 --> 00:23:44,955
Those fangs at the front
are the first front legs,
437
00:23:45,123 --> 00:23:48,158
which have been - in evolution,
if you like - made hollow
438
00:23:48,326 --> 00:23:50,794
and, with a poison gland from its head,
439
00:23:50,962 --> 00:23:52,396
made into poisonous fangs.
440
00:23:52,564 --> 00:23:55,999
But they are really modified first legs.
441
00:23:56,167 --> 00:23:57,534
God, look at it.
442
00:23:57,702 --> 00:24:01,138
It's sick of me. It's sick of me.
443
00:24:01,306 --> 00:24:04,675
Look out, look out, look out.
Camera, camera, camera, camera!
444
00:24:12,450 --> 00:24:17,521
When a giant centipede gets hold of you,
it doesn't let go.
445
00:24:17,689 --> 00:24:19,623
And when it goes hunting,
446
00:24:19,791 --> 00:24:23,994
everything from bugs to birds
to lizards should watch out.
447
00:24:25,697 --> 00:24:27,097
It's a great climber.
448
00:24:27,265 --> 00:24:29,233
It's built for searching in holes.
449
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,101
Nothing is safe.
450
00:24:32,837 --> 00:24:35,739
For its size, it's the ultimate predator.
451
00:24:35,907 --> 00:24:39,810
And its big advantage
is its shape and speed.
452
00:24:39,978 --> 00:24:42,946
Long, thin, and very fast.
453
00:24:43,114 --> 00:24:45,916
How do you beat a bug like that?
454
00:24:46,785 --> 00:24:49,653
This little demonstration
is all about body shape.
455
00:24:49,821 --> 00:24:53,357
It's a race between the beetles
versus the centipede.
456
00:24:53,525 --> 00:24:57,027
Now, I am the big, round, bumbling beetle.
457
00:24:57,195 --> 00:25:00,364
And over there is, um, centipede man.
458
00:25:00,532 --> 00:25:02,199
Go, beetles!
459
00:25:11,543 --> 00:25:12,976
Go!
460
00:25:19,150 --> 00:25:20,918
Ha ha!
461
00:25:34,566 --> 00:25:36,366
Oh, you!
462
00:25:37,702 --> 00:25:39,136
[Laughing]
463
00:25:48,246 --> 00:25:50,881
When you have to get a lot of body
464
00:25:51,049 --> 00:25:53,250
through a very small space in a hurry,
465
00:25:53,418 --> 00:25:56,320
it pays to be long, flat, and thin -
466
00:25:56,487 --> 00:25:58,088
built like a centipede.
467
00:25:58,256 --> 00:26:01,024
You won, mate. [Laughs]
468
00:26:01,693 --> 00:26:03,427
We were so lucky to find this.
469
00:26:03,595 --> 00:26:05,963
I mean, they lead such a sheltered
and hidden life.
470
00:26:06,130 --> 00:26:07,364
I'm gonna put it back, though
471
00:26:07,532 --> 00:26:09,967
because it really doesn't want to dry out.
472
00:26:10,134 --> 00:26:11,802
Oh, now, man. Here we go.
473
00:26:11,970 --> 00:26:13,971
The king of the predators of the jungle.
474
00:26:14,138 --> 00:26:16,306
Isn't it gorgeous? Ooh!
475
00:26:16,474 --> 00:26:17,541
Lucky us, lucky us.
476
00:26:17,709 --> 00:26:19,209
Come on, mate. This is where you live.
477
00:26:19,377 --> 00:26:21,411
Here we go. Put it right down here.
478
00:26:21,579 --> 00:26:23,547
Come on. Bye-bye.
479
00:26:23,715 --> 00:26:25,082
Have a good time.
480
00:26:25,250 --> 00:26:27,117
I'm getting out of your way.
481
00:26:28,186 --> 00:26:30,087
Down here. Come on.
482
00:26:30,255 --> 00:26:31,588
Tut! Whoa!
483
00:26:31,756 --> 00:26:33,457
There you go. Bye-bye.
484
00:26:33,625 --> 00:26:35,959
Making your body long and thin is one way
485
00:26:36,127 --> 00:26:37,928
of getting among the world's biggest bugs,
486
00:26:38,096 --> 00:26:40,797
but the next bug has done that to the max.
487
00:26:46,137 --> 00:26:47,938
I've been sitting here now for half an hour,
488
00:26:48,106 --> 00:26:50,173
not 10 foot from a tree,
489
00:26:50,341 --> 00:26:53,377
looking for one of the
largest insects in the world,
490
00:26:53,544 --> 00:26:55,712
and I can't see it.
491
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,948
I'm gonna give it a bit longer.
492
00:27:05,390 --> 00:27:08,191
This creature's been eluding me
for so long, I've had enough.
493
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,094
I'm going to get in there and get it.
494
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:16,300
Whoops.
495
00:27:16,467 --> 00:27:18,402
This is the place where you find them.
496
00:27:18,569 --> 00:27:20,003
On the leaves.
497
00:27:20,171 --> 00:27:21,538
They sit on the outside of the tree,
498
00:27:21,706 --> 00:27:22,706
and they gobble up leaves.
499
00:27:22,874 --> 00:27:24,207
But despite their size,
500
00:27:24,375 --> 00:27:27,377
they're surprisingly
difficult to find, actually.
501
00:27:27,545 --> 00:27:29,413
Here it is. This is it.
502
00:27:29,580 --> 00:27:32,783
This is a leaf insect.
503
00:27:32,951 --> 00:27:35,085
Some people call them stick insects,
504
00:27:35,253 --> 00:27:36,586
and they belong to the same group.
505
00:27:36,754 --> 00:27:38,422
Look. I'll come down, and I'll show you.
506
00:27:38,589 --> 00:27:40,424
Yah! Whoa.
507
00:27:40,591 --> 00:27:42,492
There we are with the leaf insect.
508
00:27:42,660 --> 00:27:45,529
Now, leaf insects and
stick insects are closely related,
509
00:27:45,697 --> 00:27:47,965
and they all got one thing in common.
510
00:27:48,132 --> 00:27:50,300
They can grow to huge sizes.
511
00:27:50,468 --> 00:27:53,070
Now, you wonder why they get so big, eh?
512
00:27:53,237 --> 00:27:55,072
The trick apparently is that -
513
00:27:55,239 --> 00:27:58,375
You think about little warblers
and little insect-eating birds.
514
00:27:58,543 --> 00:27:59,910
They come across something like that,
515
00:28:00,078 --> 00:28:03,347
and they say, "Whoa! Whoa! Back the bus up!
516
00:28:03,514 --> 00:28:06,350
That's too much of a mouthful.
I can't handle that. "
517
00:28:06,517 --> 00:28:09,920
So size is a protection from being eaten.
518
00:28:10,088 --> 00:28:11,121
But there's something else.
519
00:28:11,289 --> 00:28:12,990
There's this wonderful camouflage.
520
00:28:13,157 --> 00:28:14,758
Because if they can help it,
521
00:28:14,926 --> 00:28:16,760
they don't even want to become discovered.
522
00:28:16,928 --> 00:28:18,962
They just look like their environment.
523
00:28:19,130 --> 00:28:21,231
But does camouflage really work?
524
00:28:21,399 --> 00:28:24,534
Can a stick insect really fool a predator?
525
00:28:24,702 --> 00:28:26,203
I've told my TV crew
526
00:28:26,371 --> 00:28:28,438
to see if they can fool me with camouflage.
527
00:28:28,606 --> 00:28:29,840
So, here's the challenge.
528
00:28:30,008 --> 00:28:31,475
I've been told there's food upstairs,
529
00:28:31,642 --> 00:28:33,643
and I've got two minutes
to eat as much as I can.
530
00:28:33,811 --> 00:28:34,678
[Bell dings]
531
00:28:34,846 --> 00:28:37,981
Hey, this is the sort of job I like.
532
00:28:44,422 --> 00:28:45,822
Mmm.
533
00:29:00,505 --> 00:29:01,605
[Bell dings]
534
00:29:01,773 --> 00:29:03,573
Nothing to it. Very easy. Yummy.
535
00:29:03,741 --> 00:29:04,708
Mmm, great.
536
00:29:04,876 --> 00:29:08,045
And now I get to do that all over again.
537
00:29:08,212 --> 00:29:10,180
But this time, the rules have changed.
538
00:29:10,348 --> 00:29:12,315
This time, there's still lots of food,
539
00:29:12,483 --> 00:29:14,785
but it's all disguised - camouflage.
540
00:29:14,952 --> 00:29:16,653
It doesn't look like food,
541
00:29:16,821 --> 00:29:20,257
just like a stick insect
doesn't look like food.
542
00:29:20,425 --> 00:29:21,858
[Bell dings]
543
00:29:23,795 --> 00:29:24,795
[Chuckles]
544
00:29:28,766 --> 00:29:30,901
Mmh.
545
00:29:31,069 --> 00:29:32,769
There's nothing here.
546
00:29:34,305 --> 00:29:35,739
It's empty.
547
00:29:35,907 --> 00:29:38,208
This is ridiculous.
548
00:29:42,180 --> 00:29:43,547
[Bell dings]
549
00:29:43,714 --> 00:29:45,248
Time's up.
550
00:29:45,416 --> 00:29:47,884
I'm hungry. I can't see anything, honestly.
551
00:29:48,052 --> 00:29:49,920
This is a list of all the things
552
00:29:50,088 --> 00:29:51,922
I've apparently missed in this room.
553
00:29:52,090 --> 00:29:54,124
Didn't know. Gonna have a look.
554
00:29:57,795 --> 00:29:59,863
Oh, hello.
555
00:30:00,031 --> 00:30:01,731
Wow.
556
00:30:04,802 --> 00:30:06,169
Well, you can eat that.
557
00:30:06,337 --> 00:30:09,940
Blow me days. Clever.
558
00:30:11,876 --> 00:30:14,344
You can eat that. [Laughs]
559
00:30:14,512 --> 00:30:16,113
Look at this.
560
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,148
Did you see that?
561
00:30:18,316 --> 00:30:19,149
No idea.
562
00:30:19,317 --> 00:30:21,218
[Laughs]
563
00:30:21,385 --> 00:30:23,687
Look! [Laughs] Very good one.
564
00:30:23,855 --> 00:30:26,156
This is not cable.
565
00:30:26,324 --> 00:30:28,658
[Laughs]
566
00:30:28,826 --> 00:30:30,727
Licorice. I love licorice.
567
00:30:33,531 --> 00:30:35,799
There's something else.
568
00:30:35,967 --> 00:30:38,135
The list.
569
00:30:38,302 --> 00:30:40,237
Oh, it was great camouflage.
570
00:30:40,404 --> 00:30:43,940
How much would you have got?
Okay, the rose was icing.
571
00:30:44,108 --> 00:30:46,776
The plate was marzipan. So was the cup.
572
00:30:46,944 --> 00:30:48,645
And the TV cable was licorice.
573
00:30:48,813 --> 00:30:52,415
And the list was written on rice paper.
574
00:30:52,583 --> 00:30:54,551
And that is what it is all about.
575
00:30:54,719 --> 00:30:57,120
Stick insects are absolutely
wonderful at this!
576
00:30:57,288 --> 00:30:59,222
They just look like a twig and think,
577
00:30:59,390 --> 00:31:02,259
"See if you can find me.
See if you want to eat me. "
578
00:31:05,897 --> 00:31:08,965
Stick and leaf insects are
peaceful vegetarians.
579
00:31:09,133 --> 00:31:12,068
That's why they must be
perfect at camouflage.
580
00:31:12,236 --> 00:31:14,771
They have no other way to
protect themselves.
581
00:31:14,939 --> 00:31:19,543
This one is just like lichen
growing on a tree trunk.
582
00:31:19,710 --> 00:31:22,078
How about this leaf insect?
583
00:31:22,246 --> 00:31:23,380
It's so perfect,
584
00:31:23,548 --> 00:31:25,815
it has insect bites taken out of it.
585
00:31:25,983 --> 00:31:28,018
And a leaf-eating leaf.
586
00:31:28,186 --> 00:31:30,387
[Chuckles] How about that?
587
00:31:31,822 --> 00:31:34,024
But even their eggs are camouflaged.
588
00:31:34,192 --> 00:31:37,394
They look like seeds on the forest floor.
589
00:31:40,198 --> 00:31:42,632
And when the young hatch,
590
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,268
they're camouflaged to look like ants
591
00:31:45,436 --> 00:31:47,370
and instinctively climb straight up
592
00:31:47,538 --> 00:31:50,073
into the branches of the nearest tree.
593
00:31:54,612 --> 00:31:57,447
Many stick insects have
one more amazing trick.
594
00:31:57,615 --> 00:32:00,383
Some females don't even
mate to produce babies.
595
00:32:00,551 --> 00:32:02,652
They do it all on their own.
596
00:32:02,820 --> 00:32:05,155
Unfertilized eggs hatch into females
597
00:32:05,323 --> 00:32:07,624
that grow up to produce more females.
598
00:32:07,792 --> 00:32:11,595
Instant family! Ha! Very clever.
599
00:32:12,597 --> 00:32:15,232
The spiny leaf insect might be big,
600
00:32:15,399 --> 00:32:18,268
but it certainly isn't the fastest
creature on this planet.
601
00:32:18,436 --> 00:32:20,570
Oh, no, no, no. But she knows
where she's going.
602
00:32:20,738 --> 00:32:23,206
She's going up there to blend
in with the foliage
603
00:32:23,374 --> 00:32:26,009
and to eat a little bit more
and grow a little bit bigger.
604
00:32:26,177 --> 00:32:28,478
Now, while she's racing up into the tree,
605
00:32:28,646 --> 00:32:31,147
I might go away to see
if I can find something
606
00:32:31,315 --> 00:32:33,183
even bigger than this.
607
00:32:36,621 --> 00:32:38,555
Go left! Slightly left!
That's it! That's it!
608
00:32:38,723 --> 00:32:41,224
Up the trunk, up the trunk, up the trunk!
609
00:32:41,392 --> 00:32:43,994
Yeah. Oh! Oh, just don't never mind.
610
00:32:44,161 --> 00:32:45,729
I'll come down. Here we go.
611
00:32:45,896 --> 00:32:47,264
Aah! Oh, no!
612
00:32:47,431 --> 00:32:49,032
Ugh.
613
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,467
Boy, oh, boy. Oh.
614
00:32:50,635 --> 00:32:53,270
Are you all right?
Are you okay, dear sticky?
615
00:32:53,437 --> 00:32:57,374
Oh! I think she's in better shape than I am.
616
00:32:58,242 --> 00:32:59,542
Isn't it a beauty?
617
00:32:59,710 --> 00:33:03,280
Now, this is the giant
Malaysian stick insect,
618
00:33:03,447 --> 00:33:06,883
and it's one of those creatures
that lives way up in the canopy
619
00:33:07,051 --> 00:33:09,019
because it pretends to be a stick,
620
00:33:09,186 --> 00:33:11,721
not a big, fat trunk like that.
621
00:33:11,889 --> 00:33:13,256
The Malaysian giant stick insect
622
00:33:13,424 --> 00:33:15,292
is the longest insect in the world.
623
00:33:15,459 --> 00:33:16,660
Well, not this particular one.
624
00:33:16,827 --> 00:33:21,731
But somewhere out there-
somewhere is its biggest cousin.
625
00:33:23,434 --> 00:33:25,568
The longest stick insect in the world
626
00:33:25,736 --> 00:33:28,438
was a Malaysian forest walking stick.
627
00:33:28,606 --> 00:33:32,809
It was found some years ago
and was just under 2 foot long.
628
00:33:47,058 --> 00:33:50,827
I'm Ruud Kleinpaste,
and my search for the biggest bug
629
00:33:50,995 --> 00:33:55,198
takes me back to the
rainforests of Latin America.
630
00:34:01,038 --> 00:34:04,274
Oh.
631
00:34:04,442 --> 00:34:06,343
Look at that.
632
00:34:06,510 --> 00:34:10,046
That is the largest arachnid in the world -
633
00:34:10,214 --> 00:34:11,247
the largest bug.
634
00:34:11,415 --> 00:34:14,250
It takes the cake. It is the champion.
635
00:34:14,418 --> 00:34:15,785
Whoo.
636
00:34:15,953 --> 00:34:21,124
These spiders can grow up to
12 inches across in every way you look
637
00:34:21,292 --> 00:34:24,294
They can be a quarter pound
in terms of weight.
638
00:34:24,462 --> 00:34:26,029
Can you imagine that?
639
00:34:26,197 --> 00:34:30,433
These are the things Hollywood
horror movies are made of.
640
00:34:41,145 --> 00:34:43,546
[People screaming]
641
00:34:51,422 --> 00:34:52,822
Magnificent.
642
00:34:52,990 --> 00:34:54,691
What a monster. What a hunter.
643
00:34:54,859 --> 00:34:57,093
No wonder they've made movie
about these things.
644
00:34:57,261 --> 00:34:59,829
Oh, man, they can kill people at 12 paces.
645
00:34:59,997 --> 00:35:02,465
That's all rubbish.
646
00:35:02,633 --> 00:35:05,068
Look at this docile creature, will you?
647
00:35:05,236 --> 00:35:08,405
Sure, it's a hunter. Sure, it's big.
648
00:35:08,572 --> 00:35:10,340
But it's slow, too.
649
00:35:10,508 --> 00:35:12,442
These creatures have no ears.
650
00:35:12,610 --> 00:35:14,744
They've got eight eyes.
They can't see very well.
651
00:35:14,912 --> 00:35:18,915
But they have thousands of hairs
on their legs, on their bodies.
652
00:35:19,083 --> 00:35:22,852
And those hairs all help to monitor airflow.
653
00:35:23,020 --> 00:35:26,089
That means
they can feel people coming closer.
654
00:35:26,257 --> 00:35:27,657
They can feel predators coming closer.
655
00:35:27,825 --> 00:35:29,793
They can feel prey coming closer, as well.
656
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:31,594
If I make a quick move like this...
657
00:35:31,762 --> 00:35:33,930
You see immediately how she reacts.
658
00:35:34,098 --> 00:35:36,132
She can feel this easily,
659
00:35:36,300 --> 00:35:39,302
just with all those hairs
on these wonderful legs.
660
00:35:39,470 --> 00:35:40,370
Come on. Turn it down.
661
00:35:40,538 --> 00:35:42,572
It's all right, girl.
I wasn't gonna hurt you.
662
00:35:42,740 --> 00:35:46,843
See, if I were a predator,
I would always go from the back,
663
00:35:47,011 --> 00:35:48,812
knowing that the fangs are at the front.
664
00:35:48,979 --> 00:35:50,413
And when I come from the back...
665
00:35:50,581 --> 00:35:51,848
Oops! Pbht!
666
00:35:52,016 --> 00:35:55,385
What it does is it dislodges all these hairs
667
00:35:55,553 --> 00:35:56,953
straight into my face.
668
00:35:58,289 --> 00:35:59,522
The hairs are venomous
669
00:35:59,690 --> 00:36:03,259
and cause irritation to skin,
eyes, and nose.
670
00:36:03,427 --> 00:36:05,094
But the hairs also tell us
671
00:36:05,262 --> 00:36:07,997
that goliath spiders are,
in fact, giant tarantulas.
672
00:36:08,165 --> 00:36:12,535
And like all tarantulas, they are predators.
673
00:36:12,703 --> 00:36:16,172
They ambush prey and kill with
venom from their fangs.
674
00:36:18,242 --> 00:36:22,345
But they must take care
when they meet other goliath spiders.
675
00:36:26,016 --> 00:36:28,918
When a male and female
come together to mate,
676
00:36:29,086 --> 00:36:30,820
the male protects himself from her bite
677
00:36:30,988 --> 00:36:35,058
by holding her fangs
from special hooks on his legs
678
00:36:35,226 --> 00:36:36,860
while they copulate.
679
00:36:43,033 --> 00:36:46,669
There are no records of
goliath spiders actually killing humans
680
00:36:46,837 --> 00:36:51,207
but their bite is very,
very painful and can cause paralysis.
681
00:36:51,375 --> 00:36:55,645
Like most spiders,
they don't bite unless threatened.
682
00:36:58,249 --> 00:37:00,550
This is as large as spiders
683
00:37:00,718 --> 00:37:03,653
or, for that matter, any bugs can get.
684
00:37:03,821 --> 00:37:06,623
Any larger and they wouldn't be able
685
00:37:06,790 --> 00:37:09,559
to get oxygen right to their bodies.
686
00:37:09,727 --> 00:37:11,494
Oh, where you going? Where you going?
687
00:37:11,662 --> 00:37:13,263
That's not where you should be going.
688
00:37:13,430 --> 00:37:15,431
Hey. Oh, oh, oh.
689
00:37:15,599 --> 00:37:17,800
[Chuckles]
690
00:37:17,968 --> 00:37:22,305
Isn't that gorgeous? Look at this.
691
00:37:22,473 --> 00:37:23,940
Come on.
692
00:37:24,108 --> 00:37:26,075
Off you go.
693
00:37:30,614 --> 00:37:32,882
Where's she gone? Right.
694
00:37:33,050 --> 00:37:34,517
That's what I call a good spider.
695
00:37:34,685 --> 00:37:35,718
Straight back.
696
00:37:35,886 --> 00:37:40,189
You see, the only time these
fierce predators are really vulnerable
697
00:37:40,357 --> 00:37:42,525
is when they molt.
698
00:37:44,228 --> 00:37:49,165
When a spider is about to molt,
it stops feeding and hides away.
699
00:37:49,333 --> 00:37:51,734
It also loses hair on its abdomen,
700
00:37:51,902 --> 00:37:55,638
and its skin has a slightly blue color.
701
00:37:55,806 --> 00:37:57,206
Under its old skin,
702
00:37:57,374 --> 00:37:59,876
there's a new, soft skin already forming.
703
00:38:00,044 --> 00:38:03,846
And between the two,
the spider injects a fluid.
704
00:38:04,014 --> 00:38:06,416
When the pressure of the fluid builds up,
705
00:38:06,584 --> 00:38:08,918
the old skin splits along its back,
706
00:38:09,086 --> 00:38:12,422
and the spider steps out of its old suit.
707
00:38:14,291 --> 00:38:18,695
Goliath spiders keep on
molting throughout their lives.
708
00:38:18,862 --> 00:38:21,064
As youngsters,
they change skin once a month.
709
00:38:21,231 --> 00:38:23,833
As adults, they molt once a year.
710
00:38:24,001 --> 00:38:28,471
Each skin they shed brings them
closer and closer to becoming giants
711
00:38:28,639 --> 00:38:31,474
and one of the world's biggest bugs.
712
00:38:33,010 --> 00:38:37,313
The next bug might not beat
the giant spider for outright size,
713
00:38:37,481 --> 00:38:41,517
but it is a true champion
for weight and strength.
714
00:39:08,746 --> 00:39:12,582
There's something weird
and wonderful happening here.
715
00:39:12,750 --> 00:39:15,518
And it's all to do with growing.
716
00:39:15,686 --> 00:39:19,022
Getting to become
a true giant of the bug world
717
00:39:19,189 --> 00:39:22,525
means eating your rotten wood
and plenty of it.
718
00:39:22,693 --> 00:39:25,895
Rotten logs build champions.
719
00:39:26,063 --> 00:39:28,398
Now, have a look at this.
Look what I've found.
720
00:39:28,565 --> 00:39:29,699
Hoo hoo hoo! Hoo hoo!
721
00:39:29,867 --> 00:39:32,935
This is merely a baby.
722
00:39:33,103 --> 00:39:37,273
It is the immature or larva
of the Hercules beetle.
723
00:39:37,441 --> 00:39:39,642
If you want to see something really nice,
724
00:39:39,810 --> 00:39:42,645
have a look at this creature's father.
725
00:39:43,747 --> 00:39:48,551
The very best-fed larvae
get to become the biggest beetles.
726
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:53,956
After spending over a year hidden
in the ground, munching away as a grub...
727
00:39:54,124 --> 00:39:57,593
...the adult Hercules beetle
finally emerges,
728
00:39:57,761 --> 00:40:00,396
as big as a truck.
729
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,401
Papa Hercules.
730
00:40:05,569 --> 00:40:08,304
Isn't it a wonderful specimen? Look at it.
731
00:40:08,472 --> 00:40:11,340
This is as large as they're going to
get, those beetles.
732
00:40:11,508 --> 00:40:14,811
It's a contender for
the heaviest insect in the world.
733
00:40:14,978 --> 00:40:18,681
And they're built - listen - like a nut.
734
00:40:18,849 --> 00:40:20,717
Strong and hard.
735
00:40:20,884 --> 00:40:24,320
They can lift 80 times
their own weight on top.
736
00:40:24,488 --> 00:40:28,357
Look, they're really, really,
really, really tough.
737
00:40:28,525 --> 00:40:30,560
Now, the horn - Yes.
738
00:40:30,728 --> 00:40:32,462
Well, that horn is not for aggression.
739
00:40:32,629 --> 00:40:33,596
Oh, no.
740
00:40:33,764 --> 00:40:36,432
It's not even for defense against predators.
741
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:40,169
That beautiful horn is for jousting.
742
00:40:43,807 --> 00:40:48,678
And jousting is where size of
body and horns really counts.
743
00:40:48,846 --> 00:40:50,246
When a stranger comes along,
744
00:40:50,414 --> 00:40:52,715
it becomes a battle
to defend your home patch
745
00:40:52,883 --> 00:40:54,650
and defend your food.
746
00:41:06,764 --> 00:41:09,732
The upper and lower horns move like a claw
747
00:41:09,900 --> 00:41:14,137
to grasp an opponent
and throw him out of the ring.
748
00:41:16,607 --> 00:41:20,943
Among Hercules beetle males,
big is definitely best.
749
00:41:21,111 --> 00:41:23,679
And if a male can keep
his good feeding ground,
750
00:41:23,847 --> 00:41:26,783
it just might become a breeding ground.
751
00:41:26,950 --> 00:41:28,084
If he wins,
752
00:41:28,252 --> 00:41:31,554
there's a good chance
he will also get the girl.
753
00:41:33,023 --> 00:41:35,958
To prove that size makes
a big beetle unbeatable,
754
00:41:36,126 --> 00:41:39,328
my TV crew has set up another challenge.
755
00:41:42,132 --> 00:41:44,534
Oh, no!
756
00:41:44,701 --> 00:41:46,803
Aw, a sumo wrestler!
757
00:41:46,970 --> 00:41:48,137
Ugh.
758
00:41:48,305 --> 00:41:50,873
He's the big beetle.
759
00:41:52,075 --> 00:41:54,577
Oh, and there's the girl. [Chuckles]
760
00:41:54,745 --> 00:41:58,347
And I guess I'm supposed to
push him out of the ring.
761
00:41:58,515 --> 00:42:00,016
Yeah, right.
762
00:42:25,793 --> 00:42:29,529
When two beetles fight,
it's all about territory,
763
00:42:29,697 --> 00:42:32,932
and the winner gets the territory.
764
00:42:33,100 --> 00:42:35,935
And as a bonus, he gets the female, as well.
765
00:42:36,103 --> 00:42:37,570
Now, how cool is that?
766
00:42:37,738 --> 00:42:41,007
So you go claim your prize.
767
00:42:41,175 --> 00:42:43,843
[Cheers and applause]
768
00:42:53,816 --> 00:42:56,318
Oh, I feel for male Hercules beetles,
769
00:42:56,485 --> 00:42:58,019
especially the losers.
770
00:42:58,187 --> 00:43:01,423
You know, it's not easy,
it's not fun, and it hurts.
771
00:43:01,591 --> 00:43:04,092
Oh ho! No!
772
00:43:04,814 --> 00:43:06,215
My journey now continues
773
00:43:06,382 --> 00:43:08,884
in search of the world's baddest bugs.
774
00:43:09,052 --> 00:43:10,152
I'm Ruud Kleinpaste,
775
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:13,388
and I'm going to need
all my experience as an entomologist
776
00:43:13,556 --> 00:43:15,257
if I am to avoid danger
777
00:43:15,425 --> 00:43:19,027
and discover why some bugs
can seriously hurt us...
778
00:43:19,195 --> 00:43:22,498
...and how others can cause
the deaths of millions of people.
779
00:43:22,665 --> 00:43:26,268
But first up, the stinkiest bugs
in the world.
780
00:43:26,436 --> 00:43:28,504
Ugh! [Laughing]
781
00:43:28,671 --> 00:43:30,806
It's just not a good idea.
782
00:43:30,974 --> 00:43:33,609
This cute bug is called the man-faced bug,
783
00:43:33,776 --> 00:43:35,611
and I'm sure you can see why.
784
00:43:35,778 --> 00:43:38,747
Well, if I turned it around, you would see.
785
00:43:38,915 --> 00:43:41,884
That's better. Ooh, great hair.
786
00:43:42,051 --> 00:43:45,354
But wait. Is that Ronald Reagan?
787
00:43:45,522 --> 00:43:47,422
But what's the man-faced doing
788
00:43:47,590 --> 00:43:49,791
amongst the baddest bugs in the world?
789
00:43:49,959 --> 00:43:52,761
Well, it belongs to the stinkbug family.
790
00:43:52,929 --> 00:43:54,596
And where do they hang out?
791
00:43:54,764 --> 00:43:58,133
To find the worst-smelling bug in the world,
792
00:43:58,301 --> 00:44:01,703
all you really need to do is
go to a generic vegetable garden
793
00:44:01,871 --> 00:44:03,372
anywhere on this planet.
794
00:44:03,540 --> 00:44:05,908
Now, I found some of these coreids
795
00:44:06,075 --> 00:44:08,010
right here on this sunflower.
796
00:44:08,177 --> 00:44:11,380
I'm going to pick one up
to show you exactly what it is.
797
00:44:11,548 --> 00:44:13,415
Oopsy. Here's one. I got one. Aha.
798
00:44:13,583 --> 00:44:15,484
It's a beautiful,
beautiful creature, actually,
799
00:44:15,652 --> 00:44:17,052
because it's got these lovely legs
800
00:44:17,220 --> 00:44:20,622
with these leaflike flaps on the side.
801
00:44:20,790 --> 00:44:22,724
It's called a leaf-footed bug sometimes.
802
00:44:22,892 --> 00:44:24,693
Now, this is the point.
803
00:44:24,861 --> 00:44:29,164
If I were a bird - a young,
inexperienced bird -
804
00:44:29,332 --> 00:44:31,567
and I think, "Hmm. A leaf-footed bug.
805
00:44:31,734 --> 00:44:33,068
Let's have a go. "
806
00:44:33,236 --> 00:44:35,404
I would pick it in my mouth like this.
807
00:44:35,572 --> 00:44:37,906
They have this awful taste!
808
00:44:38,074 --> 00:44:40,108
And as a bird, I would - Oh!
809
00:44:40,276 --> 00:44:42,010
Oh, this is - Oh.
810
00:44:42,178 --> 00:44:45,147
As a bird, I'd learn my lesson.
811
00:44:45,315 --> 00:44:47,482
I would never, ever do that again.
812
00:44:47,650 --> 00:44:50,852
Stinkbugs get stinky and horribly tasting
813
00:44:51,020 --> 00:44:54,089
by feeding on plant juices
and using the toxins in the juice
814
00:44:54,257 --> 00:44:57,059
to manufacture bad smells and tastes.
815
00:44:57,226 --> 00:44:59,595
They do it to keep predators away.
816
00:45:00,863 --> 00:45:02,998
Oh, this is a big one!
Yeah, this is a good one.
817
00:45:03,166 --> 00:45:05,334
I'm gonna try that one, too.
818
00:45:05,501 --> 00:45:07,002
Oh, a pretty good pong.
819
00:45:07,170 --> 00:45:08,303
I wonder what it tastes like.
820
00:45:08,471 --> 00:45:10,272
Look at it. Beautiful, though.
821
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:12,874
Ugh! [Chuckles]
822
00:45:13,042 --> 00:45:15,410
It's just not a good idea.
823
00:45:15,578 --> 00:45:19,648
Stupid. [Chuckles] Bah!
824
00:45:19,816 --> 00:45:21,883
Go away. Get back.
825
00:45:23,620 --> 00:45:24,953
If you don't believe me
826
00:45:25,121 --> 00:45:27,723
when I say that stinkbugs really smell,
827
00:45:27,890 --> 00:45:31,026
that these cute little bugs
can make you gag,
828
00:45:31,194 --> 00:45:34,196
well, here's an independent
panel of sniffers
829
00:45:34,364 --> 00:45:36,231
that you might believe.
830
00:45:42,071 --> 00:45:43,405
Oh, my God!
831
00:45:43,573 --> 00:45:45,574
[Laughs]
832
00:45:47,043 --> 00:45:48,710
Smell it.
833
00:45:48,878 --> 00:45:50,245
Ew.
834
00:45:50,413 --> 00:45:52,214
No, no, no, no.
835
00:45:53,716 --> 00:45:55,017
Ugh!
836
00:45:55,184 --> 00:45:56,652
Oh!
837
00:45:58,388 --> 00:45:59,554
It's just a stinkbug.
838
00:45:59,722 --> 00:46:01,690
Pbht! Blimey. It is a stinkbug.
839
00:46:03,826 --> 00:46:05,494
Aah! Oh!
840
00:46:05,662 --> 00:46:07,429
Ohhhh!
841
00:46:07,597 --> 00:46:08,797
Aah!
842
00:46:08,965 --> 00:46:10,399
[Laughter]
843
00:46:11,367 --> 00:46:12,234
Yeah!
844
00:46:12,402 --> 00:46:14,069
[Girls screaming]
845
00:46:14,871 --> 00:46:16,171
Eww!
846
00:46:16,339 --> 00:46:17,639
Uh!
847
00:46:18,374 --> 00:46:19,941
Eww!
848
00:46:22,512 --> 00:46:24,646
That's the bug. He ate it.
849
00:46:24,814 --> 00:46:26,648
Aah!
850
00:46:29,385 --> 00:46:31,720
Smells are bad, but they're not dangerous.
851
00:46:31,888 --> 00:46:33,655
Now, the next bug has a hot solution
852
00:46:33,823 --> 00:46:35,590
to help escape predators.
853
00:46:45,768 --> 00:46:48,336
In nature, predators usually win.
854
00:46:48,504 --> 00:46:52,674
So how can a defenseless creature
beat a hungry predator?
855
00:46:52,842 --> 00:46:56,478
Answer - With a nasty surprise.
856
00:46:56,646 --> 00:46:59,448
Aaaah!
857
00:47:01,918 --> 00:47:05,754
Sometimes the best form of defense is attack
858
00:47:05,922 --> 00:47:07,189
or, rather, confusion.
859
00:47:07,356 --> 00:47:10,726
And when you're a small bug
in a big, big forest,
860
00:47:10,893 --> 00:47:15,063
the more time you can buy yourself
by scaring your opponent
861
00:47:15,231 --> 00:47:17,365
the more time you have to get away.
862
00:47:17,533 --> 00:47:19,568
Meet the bombardier beetle.
863
00:47:19,736 --> 00:47:23,371
Bombardier beetles are
the nutty professors of the bug world.
864
00:47:23,539 --> 00:47:25,006
They create explosive reactions
865
00:47:25,174 --> 00:47:27,142
by combining chemicals inside their bodies.
866
00:47:27,310 --> 00:47:29,978
And if you're on the wrong end
of that chemical explosion,
867
00:47:30,146 --> 00:47:32,080
then these guys are bad.
868
00:47:32,248 --> 00:47:33,448
But how bad?
869
00:47:33,616 --> 00:47:36,251
World bombardier expert
Tom Eisner should know.
870
00:47:36,419 --> 00:47:37,419
No, I haven't, actually.
871
00:47:37,587 --> 00:47:39,721
- Never seen one blast?
- No.
872
00:47:39,889 --> 00:47:40,722
Let's do it.
873
00:47:40,890 --> 00:47:43,125
What I'm going to make believe
is that I'm an ant.
874
00:47:43,292 --> 00:47:44,493
Oh, you are?
875
00:47:44,660 --> 00:47:47,629
I'm gonna just bite him gently on the leg.
876
00:47:47,797 --> 00:47:49,064
Oh, where? Which side?
877
00:47:49,232 --> 00:47:50,899
The left front leg.
878
00:47:51,067 --> 00:47:52,434
Okay. Here we go.
879
00:47:52,602 --> 00:47:54,536
Oh!
880
00:47:54,704 --> 00:47:55,570
Oh, look at that.
881
00:47:55,738 --> 00:47:57,205
And it squirted in your direction.
882
00:47:57,373 --> 00:47:59,808
He's the best marksman in the world.
883
00:47:59,976 --> 00:48:01,676
Wow. Look.
884
00:48:01,844 --> 00:48:04,546
It didn't miss a degree.
885
00:48:04,714 --> 00:48:06,948
- Okay. Watch the other leg.
- Okay. The other leg.
886
00:48:07,116 --> 00:48:09,818
We're gonna take the middle leg
from the other side.
887
00:48:09,986 --> 00:48:11,119
Here we go.
888
00:48:11,287 --> 00:48:12,954
Oh, yeah! Oh!
889
00:48:13,122 --> 00:48:15,023
Put on your goggles. Here are the forceps.
890
00:48:15,191 --> 00:48:18,059
Just pinch him very gently.
It doesn't take very much.
891
00:48:18,227 --> 00:48:20,262
Try the left hind leg.
892
00:48:20,429 --> 00:48:22,998
Yes, I'll try the left hind leg. Here we go.
893
00:48:23,166 --> 00:48:24,800
Okay.
894
00:48:24,967 --> 00:48:26,368
Look out. [Sniffs]
895
00:48:26,536 --> 00:48:28,370
[Laughs]
896
00:48:28,538 --> 00:48:31,306
- It works.
- Sensational.
897
00:48:31,474 --> 00:48:33,975
And imagine, he can do
this for about 30 times.
898
00:48:34,143 --> 00:48:36,244
Ooh, that's a pretty good national average.
899
00:48:36,412 --> 00:48:37,612
It's a good national average,
900
00:48:37,780 --> 00:48:39,815
and he's not forced to expend his supply,
901
00:48:39,982 --> 00:48:42,384
because after he fires,
he's coated with the stuff.
902
00:48:42,752 --> 00:48:45,187
The bombardier beetle is a walking zap gun.
903
00:48:45,355 --> 00:48:48,857
It's quick on the draw,
can fire in any direction,
904
00:48:49,025 --> 00:48:51,994
and it's guaranteed
to put off the biggest predator.
905
00:48:52,162 --> 00:48:54,296
[Laughs]
906
00:48:54,464 --> 00:48:56,231
Thanks, Tom.
907
00:48:56,399 --> 00:48:58,834
It was a random one.
908
00:48:59,002 --> 00:49:00,769
It got you straight in the nostrils.
909
00:49:00,937 --> 00:49:01,837
I'm sorry.
910
00:49:02,005 --> 00:49:04,039
No, that's... [Laughing]
911
00:49:04,207 --> 00:49:05,808
This is what it's all about.
912
00:49:05,975 --> 00:49:07,142
This is the master blaster.
913
00:49:07,310 --> 00:49:09,144
Oh, beetle. These are visitors.
914
00:49:09,312 --> 00:49:10,879
Behave yourself.
915
00:49:11,047 --> 00:49:13,816
It's quite remarkable.
916
00:49:13,983 --> 00:49:15,951
The mechanism is not unlike the one
917
00:49:16,119 --> 00:49:19,355
that the Germans put in
the V-1 rocket in World War II.
918
00:49:19,522 --> 00:49:23,726
It's also a system where chemicals
are mixed from two chambers.
919
00:49:23,893 --> 00:49:26,195
So to avoid getting zapped themselves,
920
00:49:26,363 --> 00:49:29,231
bombardier beetles keep
two chemicals apart in two chambers
921
00:49:29,399 --> 00:49:31,667
and only mix them to blast an enemy
922
00:49:31,835 --> 00:49:34,269
with their boiling-hot, smelly gunk.
923
00:49:34,437 --> 00:49:37,673
This is concentrated hydrogen peroxide.
924
00:49:37,841 --> 00:49:40,309
It is exactly the same material
925
00:49:40,477 --> 00:49:43,879
that is fabricated inside
the abdomen of the bombardier beetle.
926
00:49:44,047 --> 00:49:46,682
Can you imagine? It's rocket fuel.
927
00:49:46,850 --> 00:49:49,618
That's what they send these
rockets up in the sky with.
928
00:49:49,786 --> 00:49:53,422
And I'm going to mimic exactly
what happens inside the bombardier beetle.
929
00:49:53,590 --> 00:49:55,624
This is it. Look at it.
930
00:49:57,427 --> 00:50:00,329
First, a bit of peroxide. Here we go.
931
00:50:02,265 --> 00:50:05,734
To this we're going to add
something that reacts with it.
932
00:50:05,902 --> 00:50:08,437
It's a catalyst to set off the explosion.
933
00:50:08,605 --> 00:50:11,774
Now, I'd like you to meet my self here,
934
00:50:11,941 --> 00:50:14,109
standing just like that.
935
00:50:14,277 --> 00:50:16,145
And if this is the bombardier beetle,
936
00:50:16,312 --> 00:50:18,514
we're scaling everything up to my size.
937
00:50:18,681 --> 00:50:20,215
That's what we're trying to do here.
938
00:50:20,383 --> 00:50:21,784
Watch what happens.
939
00:50:22,919 --> 00:50:25,220
Holy moly! [Laughs]
940
00:50:29,759 --> 00:50:33,028
Ooh hoo! We got him, we got him! Yay!
941
00:50:46,176 --> 00:50:48,510
The search for the baddest bugs in the world
942
00:50:48,678 --> 00:50:50,112
brings me back to Latin America
943
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:54,283
and the busy shipping highway,
the Panama Canal.
944
00:50:55,051 --> 00:50:57,453
I'm Ruud Kleinpaste,
and I'm searching for a bug
945
00:50:57,620 --> 00:50:59,588
that is the terror of the rainforest -
946
00:50:59,756 --> 00:51:03,525
a fierce predator that devours
over two pounds of bugs
947
00:51:03,693 --> 00:51:06,695
and other small creatures every day.
948
00:51:19,225 --> 00:51:21,060
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
949
00:51:21,227 --> 00:51:23,095
Oh, oh, oh.
950
00:51:25,565 --> 00:51:27,299
Here we are.
951
00:51:27,467 --> 00:51:30,102
Missed. Hang on,
hang on. Get one.
952
00:51:30,270 --> 00:51:31,737
Got one.
953
00:51:31,905 --> 00:51:34,807
This is what I'm looking for.
954
00:51:34,974 --> 00:51:38,043
This is what we call an army ant.
955
00:51:38,211 --> 00:51:39,912
Small, insignificant? Yes.
956
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:41,380
Aah! It bites. No, it stings.
957
00:51:41,548 --> 00:51:45,217
It does both Small
and insignificant perhaps,
958
00:51:45,385 --> 00:51:48,754
but it's part of a much larger community.
959
00:51:48,922 --> 00:51:51,924
We're talking about hundreds
of thousands of creatures.
960
00:51:52,092 --> 00:51:54,660
This is only a tiny-weeny column here.
961
00:51:54,828 --> 00:51:55,961
But if I'm going on,
962
00:51:56,129 --> 00:51:58,297
I'm sure I'll find a bigger trail than that.
963
00:51:58,465 --> 00:51:59,665
Isn't that amazing? Aah!
964
00:51:59,833 --> 00:52:01,667
God, they found me, all right! Look.
965
00:52:01,835 --> 00:52:03,168
Straight through my pants there.
966
00:52:03,336 --> 00:52:04,603
[Laughs]
967
00:52:04,771 --> 00:52:06,338
Stinging. And it hurts.
968
00:52:06,506 --> 00:52:07,406
They all sting.
969
00:52:07,574 --> 00:52:09,174
The interesting thing is they're all blind,
970
00:52:09,342 --> 00:52:11,677
but somehow they find me all right.
971
00:52:11,845 --> 00:52:13,145
Here we go. Bye-bye.
972
00:52:13,313 --> 00:52:15,981
Army ant colonies are so perfectly organized
973
00:52:16,149 --> 00:52:19,017
that they are sometimes
called vast superbugs.
974
00:52:19,185 --> 00:52:21,754
And I'm heading towards this one's heart.
975
00:52:21,921 --> 00:52:23,088
Ohh.
976
00:52:24,391 --> 00:52:25,824
[Sighs]
977
00:52:26,726 --> 00:52:28,694
The trail is over there.
978
00:52:28,862 --> 00:52:30,429
I have the feeling I'm close to the nest,
979
00:52:30,597 --> 00:52:33,065
because they're getting
really wide - the trails -
980
00:52:33,233 --> 00:52:34,767
and it's like a highway.
981
00:52:34,934 --> 00:52:36,902
So they're split up a bit further up.
982
00:52:37,070 --> 00:52:38,170
The food is going that way,
983
00:52:38,338 --> 00:52:40,639
so I must be close to the bivouac.
984
00:52:40,807 --> 00:52:43,542
Really exciting stuff. Come on.
985
00:52:50,683 --> 00:52:52,918
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
986
00:52:52,644 --> 00:52:55,445
It's basically,
a hell of all of ants...
987
00:52:53,086 --> 00:52:55,988
That's where they are. Ooh.
988
00:52:55,446 --> 00:52:57,046
...all holding hands
together...
989
00:52:56,156 --> 00:52:57,623
Look at it.
990
00:52:57,047 --> 00:52:59,297
...forming their
own nest.
991
00:52:57,791 --> 00:52:59,491
This is the bivouac.
992
00:53:00,059 --> 00:53:02,093
It's a bit like having
a whole family of human beings
993
00:53:02,261 --> 00:53:03,829
all handing hands and forming a house
994
00:53:03,996 --> 00:53:05,630
where the other human beings walk inside -
995
00:53:05,798 --> 00:53:07,299
on the staircase, going upstairs,
996
00:53:07,466 --> 00:53:08,700
going to the fridge.
997
00:53:08,868 --> 00:53:10,836
You know, find mum, find the kids.
998
00:53:11,971 --> 00:53:13,038
And there they are.
999
00:53:13,206 --> 00:53:16,675
This is, I would say,
a medium-sized nest.
1000
00:53:16,843 --> 00:53:19,845
700,000 individuals. Something like that.
1001
00:53:20,012 --> 00:53:25,083
This bivouac is part of a nomadic phase.
1002
00:53:25,251 --> 00:53:28,186
What I'm trying to say is that
these ants are on the move.
1003
00:53:28,354 --> 00:53:32,490
The workers move their camp,
or bivouac, every day.
1004
00:53:32,658 --> 00:53:33,859
As they take the queen
1005
00:53:34,026 --> 00:53:36,928
and thousands of helpless larvae and pupae
1006
00:53:37,096 --> 00:53:39,030
to a new feeding location,
1007
00:53:39,198 --> 00:53:42,000
big, well-armed soldiers guard them.
1008
00:53:42,168 --> 00:53:43,668
During the nomadic phase,
1009
00:53:43,836 --> 00:53:46,771
the colony is a bit like a ravenous beast.
1010
00:53:46,939 --> 00:53:49,174
Its appetite is insatiable.
1011
00:53:49,342 --> 00:53:55,680
Lizards, birds, even snakes fall prey
to this rampaging superbug.
1012
00:53:55,848 --> 00:53:58,216
You know what I reckon is going to be fun?
1013
00:53:58,384 --> 00:54:00,318
Going to the front of the column.
1014
00:54:00,486 --> 00:54:03,288
That is the swarm.
That's where the action is.
1015
00:54:03,456 --> 00:54:05,523
That's the battlefield.
1016
00:54:07,793 --> 00:54:11,229
The swarm will move out
in a new direction every day.
1017
00:54:11,397 --> 00:54:12,397
There are no scouts.
1018
00:54:12,565 --> 00:54:14,165
And because they're all blind,
1019
00:54:14,333 --> 00:54:16,835
they follow a pheromone or scent trail
1020
00:54:17,003 --> 00:54:19,271
laid down by the workers.
1021
00:54:22,975 --> 00:54:25,410
Army ants sometimes enter our world.
1022
00:54:25,578 --> 00:54:26,745
And when they do,
1023
00:54:26,913 --> 00:54:29,948
you can clearly see how
totally organized they are.
1024
00:54:39,058 --> 00:54:41,293
Now, this is something
you don't see every day-
1025
00:54:41,461 --> 00:54:45,163
army ants invading homes
which are close to the jungle.
1026
00:54:45,331 --> 00:54:47,666
Now, the locals don't mind that too much
1027
00:54:47,834 --> 00:54:51,370
because the army ants perform
a gratis service of pest control.
1028
00:54:51,537 --> 00:54:52,838
They're taking away all the vermin,
1029
00:54:53,006 --> 00:54:55,107
all the insects that
they don't want in their pantries,
1030
00:54:55,274 --> 00:54:57,943
in their kitchens, in their bedrooms.
1031
00:54:59,012 --> 00:55:01,380
Workers are voracious.
1032
00:55:01,547 --> 00:55:03,081
When they detect prey,
1033
00:55:03,249 --> 00:55:07,285
they become like a pack of tiny wolves.
1034
00:55:09,822 --> 00:55:12,991
But the colony concentrates
most of its killing power
1035
00:55:13,159 --> 00:55:14,826
at the front of the swarm.
1036
00:55:14,994 --> 00:55:19,131
This is like the mouth of a fierce predator.
1037
00:55:20,099 --> 00:55:22,501
I'm literally at the front of the column.
1038
00:55:22,669 --> 00:55:25,137
This is where the swarm is.
And they're everywhere.
1039
00:55:25,304 --> 00:55:26,838
There are big columns over there.
1040
00:55:27,907 --> 00:55:29,441
Huge numbers.
1041
00:55:29,609 --> 00:55:31,043
And the funny thing is
1042
00:55:31,210 --> 00:55:33,278
they really don't make tracks, as such.
1043
00:55:33,446 --> 00:55:36,548
They literally swarm all over the place.
1044
00:55:36,716 --> 00:55:39,651
At the leading edge,
ants push forward.
1045
00:55:39,819 --> 00:55:42,854
They lay pheromone
for others and then retreat.
1046
00:55:43,022 --> 00:55:46,091
Any prey is heavily marked with pheromone
1047
00:55:46,259 --> 00:55:48,794
and swarmed by those that follow.
1048
00:55:48,961 --> 00:55:51,496
If the kill is too big to move,
they cut it up
1049
00:55:51,664 --> 00:55:54,900
and hundreds of ants each carry a piece back
1050
00:55:55,068 --> 00:55:58,036
along the feeder column to the bivouac.
1051
00:55:59,806 --> 00:56:02,741
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,
ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
1052
00:56:02,909 --> 00:56:04,976
Now, if the front of the swarm
1053
00:56:05,144 --> 00:56:07,412
is like the mouth of a fierce predator,
1054
00:56:07,580 --> 00:56:10,348
I could easily become its next meal.
1055
00:56:10,516 --> 00:56:13,218
Ow, ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow! Don't do that.
1056
00:56:13,386 --> 00:56:15,253
Oil! Stop.
1057
00:56:15,421 --> 00:56:17,856
I'm in the wrong place.
I'm in the wrong place.
1058
00:56:17,924 --> 00:56:19,357
I'm in the wrong place.
1059
00:56:19,525 --> 00:56:20,525
Oh, no!
1060
00:56:20,693 --> 00:56:22,360
Army ants hurt.
1061
00:56:22,528 --> 00:56:24,996
But next, an ant that can really hurt.
1062
00:56:25,164 --> 00:56:27,933
It has the most painful sting
in the animal kingdom.
1063
00:56:32,105 --> 00:56:33,939
The good news is this bug lives
1064
00:56:34,107 --> 00:56:36,341
in Central American forest treetops,
1065
00:56:36,509 --> 00:56:38,376
so I get a ride in a crane.
1066
00:56:38,544 --> 00:56:41,313
The bad news is that
it has a really painful sting,
1067
00:56:41,481 --> 00:56:43,482
and I've agreed to experience it.
1068
00:56:44,617 --> 00:56:46,118
Far out.
1069
00:56:46,285 --> 00:56:49,221
To forget that I'm about to get a bad sting,
1070
00:56:49,388 --> 00:56:52,791
I'm really trying hard
to enjoy the view up here.
1071
00:56:52,959 --> 00:56:55,227
You can imagine that
the canopy of forests like this
1072
00:56:55,394 --> 00:56:56,828
have not been studied much in the past
1073
00:56:56,996 --> 00:56:58,630
because there's no way of getting there.
1074
00:56:58,798 --> 00:57:02,033
But once you get there,
boy, there's stuff everywhere.
1075
00:57:02,201 --> 00:57:04,770
Entomologist's dream.
1076
00:57:06,739 --> 00:57:09,040
Every tree you see here is different.
1077
00:57:09,208 --> 00:57:12,344
I mean, there's a home
for everybody here, literally.
1078
00:57:12,512 --> 00:57:13,512
And there's ants.
1079
00:57:13,679 --> 00:57:15,814
There's ants even at this elevation.
1080
00:57:15,982 --> 00:57:17,516
Where's my bullet ant?
1081
00:57:19,185 --> 00:57:21,787
I'm going to be stung by a bullet ant.
1082
00:57:21,954 --> 00:57:24,890
They live in colonies at the base of trees
1083
00:57:25,057 --> 00:57:30,028
but mainly feed on flowers and
nectar high up in the treetops.
1084
00:57:32,064 --> 00:57:33,665
Bullet ants are blind.
1085
00:57:33,833 --> 00:57:36,334
They use their antennae as walking sticks
1086
00:57:36,502 --> 00:57:38,436
as they move about up here.
1087
00:57:38,604 --> 00:57:40,105
And that's why they have a sting
1088
00:57:40,273 --> 00:57:43,608
that causes such incredible pain.
1089
00:57:44,544 --> 00:57:46,444
The only disadvantage of living up here is
1090
00:57:46,612 --> 00:57:47,946
you're in the public eye.
1091
00:57:48,114 --> 00:57:50,582
The stakes are really high here.
1092
00:57:50,750 --> 00:57:53,785
All insects want to feed here,
and the predators know that,
1093
00:57:53,953 --> 00:57:57,222
because they go and hunt
for their favorite prey.
1094
00:57:57,390 --> 00:57:59,791
And if you are a big insect
like a bullet ant,
1095
00:57:59,959 --> 00:58:01,726
you'll really want to arm yourself
1096
00:58:01,894 --> 00:58:03,929
so that those predators
don't stand a chance.
1097
00:58:04,096 --> 00:58:05,330
Hmm.
1098
00:58:06,465 --> 00:58:08,300
Worker ants travel alone.
1099
00:58:08,467 --> 00:58:10,535
Nothing will mess with you
1100
00:58:10,573 --> 00:58:13,038
when you've got a major sting
in the tip of your abdomen.
1101
00:58:15,208 --> 00:58:17,943
They say that being stung by a bullet ant
1102
00:58:18,110 --> 00:58:19,811
feels like being shot.
1103
00:58:19,979 --> 00:58:23,014
And I'm about to find out.
1104
00:58:23,182 --> 00:58:25,116
Un poco.
1105
00:58:25,284 --> 00:58:27,319
Gracias, gracias, gracias.
1106
00:58:28,821 --> 00:58:31,356
There's heaps of ants here,
but it's the wrong size.
1107
00:58:31,524 --> 00:58:33,258
Look at them. Whoa!
1108
00:58:33,426 --> 00:58:36,328
They describe this ant
- the pain of this ant -
1109
00:58:36,495 --> 00:58:38,630
as if your hand is being
slammed in a car door
1110
00:58:38,798 --> 00:58:40,165
for a couple of hours.
1111
00:58:40,333 --> 00:58:42,033
Yeah. [Chuckles]
1112
00:58:42,201 --> 00:58:44,135
So why am I doing it?
1113
00:58:44,303 --> 00:58:45,971
Well, the world's stinging insects -
1114
00:58:46,138 --> 00:58:48,506
bees, wasps, and ants - are all bluffers.
1115
00:58:48,674 --> 00:58:50,175
It's a painful bluff, mind you,
1116
00:58:50,343 --> 00:58:51,877
but the sting is simply their trick
1117
00:58:52,044 --> 00:58:54,613
to make us think that
we are suffering major injury.
1118
00:58:54,780 --> 00:58:56,915
They really just want us to go away.
1119
00:58:57,083 --> 00:58:58,183
Even a bullet ant's sting
1120
00:58:58,351 --> 00:59:00,719
is nothing more than a painful sting.
1121
00:59:00,887 --> 00:59:03,021
Got it, got it. Nearly. Nearly got it.
1122
00:59:03,189 --> 00:59:05,290
Come on, come on, come on, come on!
1123
00:59:06,192 --> 00:59:07,025
Yeah!
1124
00:59:07,193 --> 00:59:08,493
[Laughs]
1125
00:59:10,830 --> 00:59:12,430
I think I got one.
1126
00:59:13,866 --> 00:59:15,233
Now I'm going to take that ant
1127
00:59:15,401 --> 00:59:17,502
and see what it's really made of.
1128
00:59:17,670 --> 00:59:19,437
Here we go.
1129
00:59:19,605 --> 00:59:22,874
This is the bullet ant
I got up in the canopy.
1130
00:59:23,042 --> 00:59:24,709
And I'm going to bite the bullet.
1131
00:59:24,877 --> 00:59:28,914
I'm gonna see if it's really
all it's cracked up to be.
1132
00:59:29,081 --> 00:59:31,216
Come on, mate. Down you go.
I don't want you out there yet.
1133
00:59:31,384 --> 00:59:32,584
I'll put it on my arm here.
1134
00:59:32,752 --> 00:59:34,352
Aah, he got me! Got me, got me, got me.
1135
00:59:34,520 --> 00:59:35,687
Get out. Get the sting out.
1136
00:59:35,855 --> 00:59:36,922
Come on, come on. Off you go.
1137
00:59:37,089 --> 00:59:38,123
Please get off me.
1138
00:59:38,291 --> 00:59:39,624
He keeps going, keeps going. Hang on.
1139
00:59:39,792 --> 00:59:41,326
Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
1140
00:59:41,494 --> 00:59:42,827
Aah! Come here.
1141
00:59:42,995 --> 00:59:46,197
I'll get you anyway. Oh!
1142
00:59:46,365 --> 00:59:48,800
You can see how my watch is getting really -
1143
00:59:48,968 --> 00:59:51,102
See how it's swelling up
on either side of my watch.
1144
00:59:51,270 --> 00:59:53,672
I'm gonna take it off because
it's not doing anything for me.
1145
00:59:53,839 --> 00:59:54,839
Can you see that?
1146
00:59:55,007 --> 00:59:57,008
They call it the 24-hour ant.
1147
00:59:57,176 --> 00:59:59,678
And that means that
they reckon that 24 hours,
1148
00:59:59,845 --> 01:00:01,479
the pain will subside.
1149
01:00:01,647 --> 01:00:03,949
It's like slowly creeping
through my arm now.
1150
01:00:04,116 --> 01:00:07,218
It's starting to move.
It's now moving towards my hand.
1151
01:00:07,386 --> 01:00:09,154
The pain is moving further up my arm.
1152
01:00:09,322 --> 01:00:10,855
And it took, what, 20 minutes.
1153
01:00:11,023 --> 01:00:14,459
Boy, this is something
I will never, ever forget.
1154
01:00:14,627 --> 01:00:16,027
Never, ever.
1155
01:00:16,195 --> 01:00:19,564
We're an hour after the sting occurred.
1156
01:00:19,732 --> 01:00:22,033
The pain has absolutely not subsided.
1157
01:00:22,201 --> 01:00:24,970
It's like a hot needle in
and down on either side.
1158
01:00:25,137 --> 01:00:26,972
It's started to really rain heavily.
1159
01:00:27,139 --> 01:00:29,774
It's got really dark.
It's almost like midnight.
1160
01:00:29,942 --> 01:00:33,678
And I think it's time to retire
to the comfort of my hotel,
1161
01:00:33,846 --> 01:00:36,948
where there might be some ice,
which would be good.
1162
01:00:37,116 --> 01:00:38,950
Boy, this is sore. Still.
1163
01:00:39,118 --> 01:00:41,920
It doesn't go away. It keeps going.
1164
01:00:46,425 --> 01:00:48,360
It's about six hours after the sting,
1165
01:00:48,527 --> 01:00:50,395
and it just doesn't let up.
1166
01:00:50,563 --> 01:00:51,930
It's really painful.
1167
01:00:52,098 --> 01:00:53,631
It's not getting much better, really.
1168
01:00:53,799 --> 01:00:56,234
It's just, like, swollen.
1169
01:00:56,402 --> 01:00:58,303
Sore from here to there.
1170
01:00:58,471 --> 01:01:01,473
My arm, when I don't move it,
is totally numb.
1171
01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:04,042
It's thick, and you cannot move much.
1172
01:01:04,210 --> 01:01:06,845
It's very thick and fat inside.
1173
01:01:07,013 --> 01:01:09,881
It doesn't really hurt much
until you start moving it.
1174
01:01:10,049 --> 01:01:12,083
Then it starts to hurt again.
1175
01:01:14,720 --> 01:01:16,054
[Sighs]
1176
01:01:16,222 --> 01:01:17,288
Morning.
1177
01:01:17,456 --> 01:01:20,125
Just had a few hours' sleep,
which is nice, actually.
1178
01:01:20,292 --> 01:01:23,328
And we're 16 hours on, after the sting.
1179
01:01:23,496 --> 01:01:25,397
And good news is, I can wear my watch.
1180
01:01:25,564 --> 01:01:26,731
The swelling has gone down.
1181
01:01:26,899 --> 01:01:33,838
The pain is basically back
to the aftermath numbness of a big beesting.
1182
01:01:34,006 --> 01:01:37,075
And that means that
I'm on the road to recovery.
1183
01:01:37,243 --> 01:01:38,710
I think I shall live.
1184
01:01:38,878 --> 01:01:42,380
I learned a lesson.
I really - I really did.
1185
01:01:42,548 --> 01:01:46,851
Don't mess with bullet ants.
They pack a punch.
1186
01:01:53,692 --> 01:01:55,727
My search for the baddest bugs
1187
01:01:55,895 --> 01:01:58,430
takes me deep into the Arizona desert.
1188
01:01:58,597 --> 01:02:01,633
This is scorpion HQ.
1189
01:02:01,801 --> 01:02:04,836
Here are two toughies - two scorpions -
1190
01:02:05,004 --> 01:02:06,871
and both are from the desert.
1191
01:02:07,039 --> 01:02:09,541
Now, one of these is a killer.
1192
01:02:09,708 --> 01:02:12,877
It can floor and kill human beings.
1193
01:02:13,045 --> 01:02:15,747
And the other one is almost harmless.
1194
01:02:15,915 --> 01:02:18,049
Can you guess which one?
1195
01:02:18,217 --> 01:02:20,452
No? I'll show you.
1196
01:02:24,557 --> 01:02:25,457
This one...
1197
01:02:25,624 --> 01:02:27,992
Aah! [Bleep] [Bleep]
1198
01:02:28,160 --> 01:02:30,862
This one is the harmless one.
1199
01:02:31,030 --> 01:02:32,831
Oh, yes, it just got me.
1200
01:02:32,998 --> 01:02:34,999
Absolutely got me. And it draws blood.
1201
01:02:35,167 --> 01:02:38,503
But the venom is not
half as bad as that of a bee.
1202
01:02:38,671 --> 01:02:40,271
She's so strong
1203
01:02:40,439 --> 01:02:43,975
that she would rarely use
her sting for catching prey.
1204
01:02:44,143 --> 01:02:46,811
She would use it only really
in the last possible defense
1205
01:02:46,979 --> 01:02:48,113
if somebody is hassling her
1206
01:02:48,280 --> 01:02:49,714
or if she feels really threatened.
1207
01:02:49,882 --> 01:02:51,249
A little bit like this. Look.
1208
01:02:51,417 --> 01:02:52,750
See, there it goes.
1209
01:02:52,918 --> 01:02:54,319
Aah, yeah. Hey, hey, hey, hey.
1210
01:02:54,487 --> 01:02:56,321
She's pushing. She's nudging.
1211
01:02:56,489 --> 01:02:57,455
Look at that.
1212
01:02:57,623 --> 01:02:59,991
And the funny thing is it doesn't even hurt.
1213
01:03:00,159 --> 01:03:03,428
Now, the other one, that's the nasty one.
1214
01:03:03,596 --> 01:03:05,797
And there's a very good reason for it.
1215
01:03:06,966 --> 01:03:11,803
The bark scorpion hunts out on tree trunks
and rocks where it can be seen
1216
01:03:11,971 --> 01:03:14,472
and is vulnerable to attack,
just like the bullet ant.
1217
01:03:14,640 --> 01:03:16,141
So it uses venom,
1218
01:03:16,308 --> 01:03:21,813
not only to catch prey but also
for defense against predators.
1219
01:03:21,981 --> 01:03:24,649
My TV crew has rigged
another surprise for me.
1220
01:03:24,817 --> 01:03:27,552
I'm not sure what a walk
on the beach will teach me
1221
01:03:27,720 --> 01:03:32,123
about bark scorpion stings,
but I'm sure I'll find out.
1222
01:03:32,291 --> 01:03:35,493
For this simple demonstration
about the bark scorpion,
1223
01:03:35,661 --> 01:03:39,264
I was asked to walk past that girl
on the beach there.
1224
01:03:40,331 --> 01:03:42,099
How easy can that be?
1225
01:03:50,909 --> 01:03:52,676
Aah! Oh!
1226
01:03:52,844 --> 01:03:54,144
That's nasty.
1227
01:03:54,312 --> 01:03:56,480
Aah! Oh!
1228
01:03:56,648 --> 01:03:58,849
Aah! Oh! Aah.
1229
01:03:59,017 --> 01:04:01,318
What is that? It's so small.
1230
01:04:01,486 --> 01:04:02,953
Oh, that's a cattle prod.
1231
01:04:03,121 --> 01:04:05,189
Look, that's 10,000 volts or something.
1232
01:04:05,356 --> 01:04:06,757
Shall I'll get you? Go.
1233
01:04:06,925 --> 01:04:07,958
Good grief!
1234
01:04:08,126 --> 01:04:10,527
Oh, not fair.
1235
01:04:10,695 --> 01:04:13,130
Shows you, though,
if you're small in stature,
1236
01:04:13,298 --> 01:04:15,766
and you've got something
that is really worthwhile as a tool,
1237
01:04:15,934 --> 01:04:17,901
you can floor anybody.
1238
01:04:23,592 --> 01:04:26,728
The relationship between
man and bugs has never been,
1239
01:04:26,896 --> 01:04:28,863
shall we say, a comfortable one.
1240
01:04:29,031 --> 01:04:30,798
And especially the black widow spider's
1241
01:04:30,966 --> 01:04:34,435
left a trail of victims and destruction.
1242
01:04:36,472 --> 01:04:38,673
Ewwww! [Chuckles]
1243
01:04:38,841 --> 01:04:42,076
What a top spot for a spider
to hang out.
1244
01:04:42,244 --> 01:04:45,480
It's got everything
a decent black widow would want.
1245
01:04:45,648 --> 01:04:46,981
Now, for these spiders,
1246
01:04:47,149 --> 01:04:48,783
outdoor toilets were merely the beginning
1247
01:04:48,951 --> 01:04:50,952
of their long association with humans.
1248
01:04:51,120 --> 01:04:52,987
I reckon they went a couple of steps further
1249
01:04:53,155 --> 01:04:56,224
and are now saying,
"Modern cities and urban habitats?
1250
01:04:56,392 --> 01:04:58,193
Bring it on!"
1251
01:04:59,728 --> 01:05:02,197
Many towns and cities have now spread across
1252
01:05:02,364 --> 01:05:04,232
a lot of black widow territory.
1253
01:05:04,400 --> 01:05:06,467
And that spells danger for us.
1254
01:05:06,635 --> 01:05:09,103
In the last 25 years
there have been numerous
1255
01:05:09,271 --> 01:05:11,039
black widow spider bites reported
1256
01:05:11,207 --> 01:05:14,642
but, thankfully, only four confirmed deaths.
1257
01:05:14,810 --> 01:05:18,112
It's the female of the species
who's the bad bug,
1258
01:05:18,280 --> 01:05:21,449
and I'm keen to meet the lady up close.
1259
01:05:21,617 --> 01:05:24,852
This is what I call
a prime piece of real estate.
1260
01:05:25,020 --> 01:05:26,454
There she is in an old clay pot.
1261
01:05:26,622 --> 01:05:28,556
Nice and sheltered. Big web.
1262
01:05:28,724 --> 01:05:30,758
And, of course, in an area
with a lot of rubbish.
1263
01:05:30,926 --> 01:05:33,061
A lot of other insects. A lot of flies.
1264
01:05:33,128 --> 01:05:34,062
A lot of food.
1265
01:05:34,230 --> 01:05:36,531
She sits in the back of the pot, waiting.
1266
01:05:36,699 --> 01:05:38,800
The web is right out here.
1267
01:05:38,968 --> 01:05:41,002
In the web there's some
other little bits and pieces.
1268
01:05:41,170 --> 01:05:44,072
There's some food hanging
in suspended animation right here.
1269
01:05:44,240 --> 01:05:46,708
Little fly covered with silk.
1270
01:05:46,875 --> 01:05:49,277
Now, we all know that they're venomous.
1271
01:05:49,445 --> 01:05:53,481
But the reason they use
their venom is very, very simple.
1272
01:05:53,649 --> 01:05:56,517
You see, spiders haven't invented
fridges yet.
1273
01:05:56,685 --> 01:05:57,952
So when they catch prey,
1274
01:05:58,120 --> 01:06:00,321
they want to keep it as fresh as possible
1275
01:06:00,489 --> 01:06:02,257
if they don't want to feed on it yet.
1276
01:06:02,424 --> 01:06:04,792
So what you do is you wrap it up into silk,
1277
01:06:04,960 --> 01:06:06,694
you give it a little bite of venom,
1278
01:06:06,862 --> 01:06:09,964
a little bit of poison so that
you just don't kill your prey,
1279
01:06:10,132 --> 01:06:13,434
and it stays okay in the web
for four or five days.
1280
01:06:16,305 --> 01:06:18,973
Perhaps black widows are supervenomous
1281
01:06:19,141 --> 01:06:21,175
because they are small and vulnerable,
1282
01:06:21,343 --> 01:06:24,345
just like bullet ants and bark scorpions.
1283
01:06:24,513 --> 01:06:27,048
But the good news is that, like all spiders,
1284
01:06:27,216 --> 01:06:30,084
they really don't want to bite us.
1285
01:06:32,421 --> 01:06:35,990
Now, black widows are normally
not very aggressive at all.
1286
01:06:36,158 --> 01:06:37,725
But you've got to be very careful.
1287
01:06:37,893 --> 01:06:40,261
They are venomous.
And don't try this at home.
1288
01:06:40,429 --> 01:06:43,698
But when you get a spider
like this that falls onto your hand
1289
01:06:43,866 --> 01:06:46,534
or bungees onto your hand,
don't pick it up.
1290
01:06:46,702 --> 01:06:48,369
Put it back just like that,
1291
01:06:48,537 --> 01:06:49,644
and put it back
where she belongs.
1292
01:07:02,184 --> 01:07:06,020
Look at this - a bustling metropolis
with lots of activity
1293
01:07:06,188 --> 01:07:07,222
and heaps of people.
1294
01:07:07,389 --> 01:07:08,656
4 million, in fact.
1295
01:07:08,824 --> 01:07:11,126
Because this is Sydney, Australia.
1296
01:07:11,293 --> 01:07:14,629
Now, let's take a step back
in time 300 years.
1297
01:07:15,631 --> 01:07:17,232
Ah, that's better.
1298
01:07:17,399 --> 01:07:20,135
Clean, pristine, undisturbed bush.
1299
01:07:20,302 --> 01:07:21,970
Now, it was in this particular area,
1300
01:07:22,138 --> 01:07:24,973
perhaps only a couple of
dozen square miles in size,
1301
01:07:25,141 --> 01:07:28,943
that there once lived
a very unique species of spider -
1302
01:07:29,111 --> 01:07:30,912
a funnel-web spider.
1303
01:07:31,714 --> 01:07:33,615
On warm summer evenings,
1304
01:07:33,782 --> 01:07:36,751
male funnel-webs would
come out of their silk-lined nests
1305
01:07:36,919 --> 01:07:39,888
and go wandering through
the bush looking for a mate.
1306
01:07:45,828 --> 01:07:48,997
Their journeys could take them
miles from home.
1307
01:07:49,165 --> 01:07:54,569
And that's the way life was
for perhaps millions of years.
1308
01:07:54,737 --> 01:07:56,971
And then...
1309
01:07:57,139 --> 01:08:00,408
200 years ago, the city of Sydney was built
1310
01:08:00,576 --> 01:08:03,845
right on top of funnel-web
spiders' home territory.
1311
01:08:04,013 --> 01:08:06,981
So, what did these spiders do?
1312
01:08:07,149 --> 01:08:08,483
Well, nothing.
1313
01:08:08,651 --> 01:08:11,653
The males keep on wandering,
just like they always did.
1314
01:08:11,820 --> 01:08:13,855
Now known as the Sydney funnel-web,
1315
01:08:14,023 --> 01:08:16,124
the suburbs are their new bush.
1316
01:08:16,292 --> 01:08:19,093
And if their romantic journey
should take them near a house,
1317
01:08:19,261 --> 01:08:21,629
they are likely to come in.
1318
01:08:21,797 --> 01:08:23,298
Trouble is,
1319
01:08:23,465 --> 01:08:27,502
they're probably the most
venomous spiders on the planet.
1320
01:08:27,670 --> 01:08:30,238
When cornered,
they can be really aggressive,
1321
01:08:30,406 --> 01:08:33,374
and 13 people have been
killed in the Sydney area -
1322
01:08:33,542 --> 01:08:37,078
but none since antivenin
was discovered in 1981,
1323
01:08:37,246 --> 01:08:41,049
even though 30 to 40 people
are bitten each year.
1324
01:08:41,884 --> 01:08:44,219
They normally eat beetles and cockroaches,
1325
01:08:44,386 --> 01:08:46,054
so it's actually quite a mystery
1326
01:08:46,222 --> 01:08:49,457
why the venom of male
funnel-webs is so poisonous...
1327
01:08:49,625 --> 01:08:52,293
...to humans and other primates.
1328
01:08:52,461 --> 01:08:55,563
I've caught one in the act here
in the old garage,
1329
01:08:55,731 --> 01:08:57,432
walking around.
1330
01:08:57,600 --> 01:08:59,000
Can't stay here, mate.
1331
01:09:01,837 --> 01:09:04,806
Some of them are more
aggressive than others.
1332
01:09:04,974 --> 01:09:08,309
If they rear up, you know
they mean business.
1333
01:09:08,477 --> 01:09:12,580
You have to be very careful
with puffs of wind.
1334
01:09:18,354 --> 01:09:20,355
This is rearing behavior.
1335
01:09:20,522 --> 01:09:25,560
Universal language for
"Danger - Stay out of my way. "
1336
01:09:25,728 --> 01:09:28,963
I'm gonna try something here.
1337
01:09:29,131 --> 01:09:30,582
I've got a theory that...
1338
01:09:30,583 --> 01:09:34,936
...a spider just doesn't bite
the ground that it's walking on.
1339
01:09:35,104 --> 01:09:38,406
It's got to have a good reason
to be aggressive and to attack
1340
01:09:38,574 --> 01:09:42,010
if it's under attack itself.
1341
01:09:42,177 --> 01:09:45,380
I'm gonna try and let it walk over my hand.
1342
01:09:47,116 --> 01:09:48,783
I think.
1343
01:09:51,253 --> 01:09:55,156
This, believe it or not,
is not an act of foolishness.
1344
01:09:55,324 --> 01:09:56,724
Ah, look at it.
1345
01:09:56,892 --> 01:10:00,028
I've handled bugs, good
and bad, for over 20 years.
1346
01:10:00,195 --> 01:10:01,562
I know when it is safe.
1347
01:10:01,730 --> 01:10:05,667
And I know that venom
is precious to a spider.
1348
01:10:05,834 --> 01:10:07,769
They don't want to waste a drop.
1349
01:10:07,936 --> 01:10:10,571
And they will only attack when threatened.
1350
01:10:10,739 --> 01:10:13,174
Ooh, that was close.
1351
01:10:13,342 --> 01:10:14,842
Ugh.
1352
01:10:15,010 --> 01:10:16,444
God, I don't believe I did that.
1353
01:10:16,612 --> 01:10:18,313
[Gasping]
1354
01:10:20,883 --> 01:10:22,684
But please, if you live in Sydney
1355
01:10:22,851 --> 01:10:27,522
or anywhere there are venomous
spiders, don't you try this.
1356
01:10:37,934 --> 01:10:41,369
My journey to find
the baddest bugs enters a swamp.
1357
01:10:41,537 --> 01:10:44,239
This could be anywhere in the tropics.
1358
01:10:44,407 --> 01:10:46,107
I'm Ruud Kleinpaste, and I'm on the trail
1359
01:10:46,275 --> 01:10:48,410
of a bug that's so unbelievably bad,
1360
01:10:48,578 --> 01:10:53,982
it can be linked to the deaths of millions
of humans in the last thousand years.
1361
01:10:54,150 --> 01:10:56,451
I think I can hear something.
1362
01:10:56,619 --> 01:10:58,053
Yeah.
1363
01:11:00,590 --> 01:11:02,657
It hasn't found me yet.
1364
01:11:07,096 --> 01:11:09,865
These bad bugs love to feed on us,
1365
01:11:10,032 --> 01:11:14,769
and they can find us
from a long way off by smell.
1366
01:11:14,937 --> 01:11:17,138
Of course, I'm talking about mosquitoes,
1367
01:11:17,306 --> 01:11:19,007
and these ones are in the laboratory,
1368
01:11:19,175 --> 01:11:21,776
where researchers use
a special machine to study
1369
01:11:21,944 --> 01:11:25,313
what kind of smells mosquitoes
are most attracted to.
1370
01:11:25,481 --> 01:11:26,715
This is how it works.
1371
01:11:26,883 --> 01:11:28,717
Lots of mosquitoes in these containers,
1372
01:11:28,885 --> 01:11:31,853
and some pipes and tubes
in which you can put an attractant,
1373
01:11:32,021 --> 01:11:33,622
and then you can measure the response.
1374
01:11:33,789 --> 01:11:38,493
Number one, I know breath
attracts them - carbon dioxide.
1375
01:11:38,661 --> 01:11:41,396
I've got a sachet of
artificial carbon dioxide here,
1376
01:11:41,564 --> 01:11:43,798
which I'm going to put in this chamber.
1377
01:11:43,966 --> 01:11:45,600
Upsy-daisy you are.
1378
01:11:45,768 --> 01:11:47,869
See what happens.
1379
01:11:48,671 --> 01:11:51,473
And there they go,
straight for the carbon dioxide.
1380
01:11:51,641 --> 01:11:53,174
It really turns them on.
1381
01:11:53,342 --> 01:11:57,312
If I would go "hoo!"
and breathe a bit more...
1382
01:11:58,147 --> 01:11:59,614
...they would even like that better.
1383
01:11:59,782 --> 01:12:01,016
So breath.
1384
01:12:01,183 --> 01:12:02,717
This is another one.
1385
01:12:02,885 --> 01:12:06,955
I put my hand in here, open that one up.
1386
01:12:07,123 --> 01:12:09,057
This shows you that
the chemicals on my hand -
1387
01:12:09,225 --> 01:12:12,827
the sweat and the body odors -
are also a very good stimulant
1388
01:12:12,995 --> 01:12:16,898
for those female mosquitoes
to grab me, to get hold of me.
1389
01:12:17,066 --> 01:12:18,967
But I've got something else.
1390
01:12:21,470 --> 01:12:24,873
I've got the odor of all odors.
1391
01:12:25,041 --> 01:12:26,808
I haven't washed those for a couple of days,
1392
01:12:26,976 --> 01:12:28,977
so I hope it's not going to kill them.
1393
01:12:29,145 --> 01:12:30,845
[Chuckles]
1394
01:12:31,013 --> 01:12:32,314
No, it doesn't.
1395
01:12:32,481 --> 01:12:34,582
They're actually - [laughs]
1396
01:12:34,750 --> 01:12:37,085
They really like this stuff.
Isn't that amazing?
1397
01:12:37,253 --> 01:12:39,220
It's like Swiss cheese to a mosquito -
1398
01:12:39,388 --> 01:12:41,456
big foot odor, big sweat.
1399
01:12:41,624 --> 01:12:43,425
Mmm!
1400
01:12:43,592 --> 01:12:46,561
Only female mosquitoes come after us.
1401
01:12:46,729 --> 01:12:48,263
They want the protein in our blood
1402
01:12:48,431 --> 01:12:50,765
to help develop their eggs.
1403
01:12:51,834 --> 01:12:53,234
[Mosquito buzzing]
1404
01:12:53,402 --> 01:12:54,402
They find us first
1405
01:12:54,570 --> 01:12:57,439
by locking on the carbon dioxide
in our breath.
1406
01:12:57,606 --> 01:13:00,408
They can detect us from over 100 feet away.
1407
01:13:01,944 --> 01:13:04,479
When they get closer, they smell our skin.
1408
01:13:04,647 --> 01:13:08,583
Mosquitoes react to over
300 different skin chemicals.
1409
01:13:08,751 --> 01:13:11,052
And, look, there they are,
going straight for my fingers.
1410
01:13:11,220 --> 01:13:16,124
These mosquitoes can take four times
their own body weight of my blood.
1411
01:13:16,292 --> 01:13:18,493
That means that they become
four times heavier...
1412
01:13:18,661 --> 01:13:20,195
...than they are when they started.
1413
01:13:20,363 --> 01:13:23,498
And that means that their abdomens
really have to stretch
1414
01:13:23,666 --> 01:13:26,534
and let in more and more blood.
1415
01:13:26,702 --> 01:13:28,236
And if you look really carefully,
1416
01:13:28,404 --> 01:13:30,939
you can see that they eject water
1417
01:13:31,107 --> 01:13:33,641
with little droplets from their abdomen,
1418
01:13:33,809 --> 01:13:35,276
just to make room for a bit more blood.
1419
01:13:35,444 --> 01:13:39,714
They really want as much
protein as they can get.
1420
01:13:39,882 --> 01:13:42,584
Different mosquitoes
have favorite animal hosts.
1421
01:13:42,752 --> 01:13:46,221
These striped Aedes aegyptii
love human blood.
1422
01:13:46,389 --> 01:13:49,424
They live in the tropics
and like to live in our houses.
1423
01:13:49,592 --> 01:13:50,558
Problem is,
1424
01:13:50,726 --> 01:13:55,230
each one is a potentially
loaded gun full of nasty disease.
1425
01:13:55,398 --> 01:13:57,298
So am I in danger?
1426
01:13:57,466 --> 01:14:00,135
Thankfully, not from these little ladies.
1427
01:14:00,302 --> 01:14:03,638
They are laboratory-bred and disease-free.
1428
01:14:03,806 --> 01:14:06,274
But you can imagine that,
if these would have...
1429
01:14:06,442 --> 01:14:09,411
...things like yellow fever
or dengue inside them,
1430
01:14:09,578 --> 01:14:11,012
I would be a sitting duck.
1431
01:14:11,180 --> 01:14:12,113
[Buzzing]
1432
01:14:12,281 --> 01:14:15,250
Aedes mosquitoes spread
yellow fever and dengue fever
1433
01:14:15,418 --> 01:14:17,986
by sucking up disease
from the blood of an infected person
1434
01:14:18,154 --> 01:14:20,588
and passing it on to others.
1435
01:14:20,756 --> 01:14:23,091
The disease multiplies in a new host,
1436
01:14:23,259 --> 01:14:26,661
rupturing red blood cells
and causing severe fever -
1437
01:14:26,829 --> 01:14:32,000
fever that affects millions and
kills thousands of people each year.
1438
01:14:33,335 --> 01:14:36,704
Next, a bug that wants
to hurt us in a big way.
1439
01:14:43,012 --> 01:14:44,345
The baddest bugs in this show
1440
01:14:44,513 --> 01:14:46,848
were bred in Brazil in the 1950s.
1441
01:14:47,016 --> 01:14:50,752
They escaped and reached the U.S. in 1990,
1442
01:14:50,920 --> 01:14:53,254
and they're spreading fast.
1443
01:14:53,422 --> 01:14:56,424
They're Africanized honeybees,
or killer bees.
1444
01:14:56,592 --> 01:14:58,626
They look just like normal honeybees,
1445
01:14:58,794 --> 01:15:02,163
but they are superaggressive
in defense of their queen.
1446
01:15:02,331 --> 01:15:03,731
If an intruder comes near,
1447
01:15:03,899 --> 01:15:07,836
thousands of bees will attack
and give chase for over a mile.
1448
01:15:08,003 --> 01:15:12,774
Hundreds of people have been
killed by this modern bad bug.
1449
01:15:14,710 --> 01:15:17,378
You generally don't mess around
with killer bees, I was told.
1450
01:15:17,546 --> 01:15:19,414
[Laughs]
1451
01:15:19,582 --> 01:15:23,885
And that means full suit and great care.
1452
01:15:24,053 --> 01:15:25,386
Ooh.
1453
01:15:26,388 --> 01:15:29,924
I'm in Arizona, and
killer-bee expert Justin Schmidt
1454
01:15:30,092 --> 01:15:31,960
is taking me to a killer-bee nest.
1455
01:15:32,128 --> 01:15:33,361
We must be careful.
1456
01:15:33,529 --> 01:15:36,364
Even a noise or vibration
could cause an attack.
1457
01:15:36,532 --> 01:15:39,968
And when killer bees attack,
most of the hive will swarm,
1458
01:15:40,136 --> 01:15:42,871
and I don't want that,
and Justin doesn't, either.
1459
01:15:43,038 --> 01:15:45,106
There it is, up there
- the killer-bee colony.
1460
01:15:45,274 --> 01:15:46,541
The less people, the better,
1461
01:15:46,709 --> 01:15:49,377
so I'm going to wish you
good luck and bon voyage.
1462
01:15:49,545 --> 01:15:50,545
[Chuckling] Oh, thank you.
1463
01:15:50,713 --> 01:15:52,714
I'll need it. I'll be very careful.
1464
01:15:52,882 --> 01:15:54,249
See ya.
1465
01:15:56,185 --> 01:15:57,352
Must be careful.
1466
01:16:02,024 --> 01:16:05,760
There's a huge nest of killer bees there.
1467
01:16:05,928 --> 01:16:10,231
And you - you can hear them
buzz from right here.
1468
01:16:10,399 --> 01:16:12,667
Now, I don't want to disturb them,
1469
01:16:12,835 --> 01:16:15,403
because when they're disturbed, they attack.
1470
01:16:15,571 --> 01:16:17,605
When they attack, they sting.
1471
01:16:17,773 --> 01:16:21,042
And when they sting, they die,
and I don't want that to happen.
1472
01:16:21,210 --> 01:16:23,845
But I've got to be very,
very quiet and very careful.
1473
01:16:24,013 --> 01:16:27,615
But what will be nice is
to have a look inside the nest
1474
01:16:27,783 --> 01:16:29,551
and to see how they react.
1475
01:16:29,718 --> 01:16:32,387
Don't forget, I'm downwind from them.
1476
01:16:32,555 --> 01:16:36,124
And I'm going to put
this little camera inside...
1477
01:16:37,393 --> 01:16:39,594
...and see what I can find.
1478
01:16:46,669 --> 01:16:48,937
Oh, boy, guard bees.
1479
01:16:49,104 --> 01:16:52,707
Oh, amazing, they haven't seen me yet.
1480
01:16:54,643 --> 01:16:57,245
Oh, sensational. This has
never been done before.
1481
01:16:57,413 --> 01:16:59,647
Oh, look, they're investigating
the camera now.
1482
01:16:59,815 --> 01:17:03,151
[Chuckles] Wonderful!
1483
01:17:03,319 --> 01:17:05,153
Oh, God, the noise -
the noise.
1484
01:17:05,321 --> 01:17:08,189
Whoa, whoa, here they come.
I've got to get out, folks.
1485
01:17:08,357 --> 01:17:10,358
I've got to get out. No, this is not safe.
1486
01:17:10,526 --> 01:17:11,993
I've got to get out.
1487
01:17:13,896 --> 01:17:16,297
I'm on. I'm moving.
1488
01:17:19,501 --> 01:17:21,135
Better get out.
1489
01:17:22,638 --> 01:17:26,608
It's a bit safer here, but
I think I'll come back tonight.
1490
01:17:26,775 --> 01:17:29,644
I reckon it's a lot safer in the dark.
1491
01:17:35,684 --> 01:17:37,252
When I approach the nest at night,
1492
01:17:37,419 --> 01:17:40,722
I expect the bees to be at rest,
but they're not.
1493
01:17:40,889 --> 01:17:44,259
They are still aggressive
after my earlier visit.
1494
01:17:44,426 --> 01:17:48,863
As I approach, they approach me... on foot.
1495
01:17:49,031 --> 01:17:52,734
They climb my boots
and my legs. It's amazing.
1496
01:17:52,901 --> 01:17:54,102
Even though this is night,
1497
01:17:54,270 --> 01:17:58,172
they are still alert, still superaggressive.
1498
01:17:58,340 --> 01:18:01,676
They start stinging.
It's time to get out of here.
1499
01:18:01,844 --> 01:18:04,412
But there will be no escape
from the killer bees
1500
01:18:04,580 --> 01:18:05,947
tomorrow morning.
1501
01:18:12,954 --> 01:18:15,656
My journey to find the world's baddest bugs
1502
01:18:15,823 --> 01:18:19,226
ends here today in the Arizona desert.
1503
01:18:22,664 --> 01:18:24,598
I didn't sleep last night.
1504
01:18:24,766 --> 01:18:28,669
I kept thinking about
the crazy thing I've agreed to do.
1505
01:18:33,474 --> 01:18:35,709
Not too sure about this.
1506
01:18:37,378 --> 01:18:38,312
[Sighs]
1507
01:18:38,479 --> 01:18:41,281
And it's hot already. I hope
the bees like the warmth.
1508
01:18:41,449 --> 01:18:43,684
Um, in there, I think.
1509
01:18:43,851 --> 01:18:46,453
I really am nervous. Hmm.
1510
01:18:46,621 --> 01:18:49,423
You'd be, too, if you were about to
have thousands of killer bees
1511
01:18:49,591 --> 01:18:51,625
put on you without any protective clothing.
1512
01:18:52,927 --> 01:18:54,661
Going to have an exciting day.
1513
01:18:54,829 --> 01:18:57,898
Hmm, this must be my torturer,
entomologist Norm Gary.
1514
01:18:58,066 --> 01:19:00,234
- Are you well?
- Hi. Norm.
1515
01:19:00,401 --> 01:19:02,703
Yeah, we're going to have
some excitement here.
1516
01:19:04,072 --> 01:19:05,372
I have no idea
what's gonna happen.
1517
01:19:05,540 --> 01:19:06,607
So tell me, what do I do?
1518
01:19:06,774 --> 01:19:08,308
The first thing you do is not panic.
1519
01:19:08,476 --> 01:19:11,245
No matter what happens,
don't panic, because that's bad.
1520
01:19:11,412 --> 01:19:14,047
Okay, so, I reel- I - I - relax.
1521
01:19:14,215 --> 01:19:16,483
- You relax totally.
- As much as I can.
1522
01:19:16,651 --> 01:19:20,354
How can anyone relax with
50,000 bees on their face, eh?
1523
01:19:20,521 --> 01:19:21,488
Uh, how many?
1524
01:19:21,656 --> 01:19:24,658
Well, at least 50,000 bees are here today.
1525
01:19:24,826 --> 01:19:25,792
Okay.
1526
01:19:25,960 --> 01:19:27,227
We hope they're all in a good mood.
1527
01:19:27,395 --> 01:19:28,729
[Buzzing]
1528
01:19:28,896 --> 01:19:30,464
Going to sting a lot, so...
1529
01:19:30,632 --> 01:19:32,933
He puts repellent around my eyes.
1530
01:19:33,101 --> 01:19:34,735
My sleeves and cuffs are taped
1531
01:19:34,902 --> 01:19:37,571
to prevent bees getting into
my clothing and stinging me.
1532
01:19:39,307 --> 01:19:40,941
Norm Gary is a bee expert
1533
01:19:41,109 --> 01:19:43,210
and has worked a lot with killer bees,
1534
01:19:43,378 --> 01:19:45,412
but what we are planning is very risky.
1535
01:19:45,580 --> 01:19:47,047
[Buzzing]
1536
01:19:47,215 --> 01:19:49,950
- This is a-
- Hey - I mean, hang on.
1537
01:19:50,118 --> 01:19:51,585
Is this it?
1538
01:19:51,753 --> 01:19:53,086
That's it, Ruud.
1539
01:19:53,254 --> 01:19:55,789
It's not beautiful, but it's functional.
1540
01:19:55,957 --> 01:19:57,858
This is a small vial of liquid.
1541
01:19:58,026 --> 01:20:00,894
It's a pheromone complex,
actually - many pheromones -
1542
01:20:01,062 --> 01:20:02,729
bee pheromones
combined together.
1543
01:20:02,897 --> 01:20:05,565
So, you can already see,
the bees are showing interest in it,
1544
01:20:05,733 --> 01:20:06,800
even before I open the vial.
1545
01:20:06,968 --> 01:20:07,668
Yes.
1546
01:20:07,835 --> 01:20:10,203
So in order to attract the bees to you
1547
01:20:10,371 --> 01:20:11,638
and get them to cluster on you,
1548
01:20:11,806 --> 01:20:13,874
we're going to place
little droplets of this
1549
01:20:14,042 --> 01:20:15,642
wherever we want the bees to come.
1550
01:20:15,810 --> 01:20:18,245
Wow, they're really responding.
1551
01:20:18,413 --> 01:20:19,846
Just little droplets here and there.
1552
01:20:20,014 --> 01:20:21,749
The pheromone is the key
to what we are going to do.
1553
01:20:22,217 --> 01:20:24,285
It's the same chemical that a queen produces
1554
01:20:24,452 --> 01:20:29,256
when she flies from an overcrowded hive
to encourage workers to follow her.
1555
01:20:29,424 --> 01:20:33,027
That's why they will come to me,
and that's why I'm doing this -
1556
01:20:33,195 --> 01:20:35,729
to prove the power of the pheromone.
1557
01:20:35,897 --> 01:20:38,732
I trust that it will communicate
to these killer bees
1558
01:20:38,900 --> 01:20:40,868
that they should not attack me.
1559
01:20:41,036 --> 01:20:42,136
Just to be on the safe side,
1560
01:20:42,304 --> 01:20:44,638
I have a fistful of medications here,
1561
01:20:44,806 --> 01:20:46,373
most anything for any purpose.
1562
01:20:46,541 --> 01:20:49,343
And we'll take good care of you
if you get stung.
1563
01:20:49,511 --> 01:20:51,579
Okay, so that's if I go absolutely out.
1564
01:20:51,746 --> 01:20:52,780
All right, are we ready?
1565
01:20:52,948 --> 01:20:54,448
- I'm ready, mate.
- Very good.
1566
01:20:54,616 --> 01:20:56,217
[Bees buzzing]
1567
01:20:56,384 --> 01:20:57,484
Ready?
1568
01:20:57,652 --> 01:20:59,587
Ready? Ready?
1569
01:20:59,754 --> 01:21:01,355
What am I doing here?
1570
01:21:08,129 --> 01:21:10,264
Once a few bees are in position,
1571
01:21:10,432 --> 01:21:13,167
then they are quite attracted
to the other bees.
1572
01:21:13,335 --> 01:21:19,206
So this is gonna build up now,
and it's going to alarm you.
1573
01:21:19,374 --> 01:21:20,741
There's no question about it.
1574
01:21:20,909 --> 01:21:24,378
What's even more alarming
is what Norm says next.
1575
01:21:24,546 --> 01:21:28,349
This is the first time I've ever used
1576
01:21:28,516 --> 01:21:32,052
Africanized, so-called killer bees,
on a person.
1577
01:21:32,220 --> 01:21:35,022
As the bees go on, I start to panic.
1578
01:21:35,190 --> 01:21:37,558
500 stings will kill me,
1579
01:21:37,726 --> 01:21:40,527
and there must be close to
500 on me already.
1580
01:21:40,695 --> 01:21:44,665
But I must have confidence
in Norm and confidence in the bees.
1581
01:21:44,833 --> 01:21:47,001
I have to believe they only attack
1582
01:21:47,168 --> 01:21:49,503
if they have a queen or a hive to defend,
1583
01:21:49,671 --> 01:21:52,172
and today, I'm their queen.
1584
01:21:52,340 --> 01:21:54,742
If you get stung,
1585
01:21:54,910 --> 01:21:56,343
I want you to let me know right away.
1586
01:21:56,511 --> 01:21:57,344
I will.
1587
01:21:57,512 --> 01:21:58,846
If you can't say anything with your mouth
1588
01:21:59,014 --> 01:22:01,849
because you're covered,
just go, "Ugh," like that.
1589
01:22:02,017 --> 01:22:03,884
When I first did this, I was terrified.
1590
01:22:04,052 --> 01:22:05,886
A sting is what I'm most afraid of.
1591
01:22:06,054 --> 01:22:10,591
If one killer bee stings,
it will release a sting pheromone.
1592
01:22:10,759 --> 01:22:12,893
That's the signal for a mass attack.
1593
01:22:14,162 --> 01:22:16,463
It is bizarre. It is a weird sensation.
1594
01:22:16,631 --> 01:22:19,700
It is frightening as hell.
1595
01:22:19,868 --> 01:22:22,369
It is really frightening, because you feel
1596
01:22:22,537 --> 01:22:25,406
that they're all going for you,
which is what they do.
1597
01:22:26,541 --> 01:22:29,076
Which is what they do,
isn't it, Norm? They go for me.
1598
01:22:29,244 --> 01:22:32,813
They're going for you because
you smell like the queen bee.
1599
01:22:32,981 --> 01:22:34,648
- Hmm. [Ryuud chuckles]
- That's why. Yeah.
1600
01:22:34,816 --> 01:22:36,550
The biggest queen in town.
1601
01:22:36,718 --> 01:22:39,086
Oh, gosh!
1602
01:22:39,254 --> 01:22:41,255
It's hard to scoop the residual bees.
1603
01:22:41,423 --> 01:22:44,992
I'm going to fling them
in the air downwind from you,
1604
01:22:45,160 --> 01:22:46,527
and they will smell their way up
1605
01:22:46,695 --> 01:22:47,861
and come and join the other bees.
1606
01:22:48,029 --> 01:22:52,666
So, on the count of 3- 1... 2... 3.
1607
01:23:03,745 --> 01:23:05,379
How many more do you have?
1608
01:23:05,547 --> 01:23:08,549
Well, I would say,
maybe you have 30% of the -
1609
01:23:08,717 --> 01:23:09,516
Oh!
1610
01:23:09,684 --> 01:23:11,986
I can go ahead and
release the others quickly.
1611
01:23:12,153 --> 01:23:13,554
Can I put my arms down?
1612
01:23:13,722 --> 01:23:16,023
- Oh, yes, just keep them down.
- Okay.
1613
01:23:16,191 --> 01:23:18,592
As long as they're -
Sorry, I'm getting tense.
1614
01:23:18,760 --> 01:23:20,160
Just relax.
1615
01:23:20,328 --> 01:23:21,628
As Norm releases the bees,
1616
01:23:21,796 --> 01:23:24,198
they come flying onto me at great speed.
1617
01:23:24,366 --> 01:23:27,668
It's like riding a motorbike
through a swarm.
1618
01:23:28,636 --> 01:23:30,904
I'm getting really tired.
1619
01:23:31,072 --> 01:23:33,507
At this point, you should
start feeling a lot of weight.
1620
01:23:33,675 --> 01:23:34,908
Yes, I can feel weight.
1621
01:23:35,076 --> 01:23:39,813
The bees are heavy. About
3,000, 4,000 bees per pound.
1622
01:23:39,981 --> 01:23:42,483
And you have at least
a half pound on your hat alone.
1623
01:23:42,650 --> 01:23:43,684
Yeah.
1624
01:23:43,852 --> 01:23:46,086
I can hear them so close-up...
1625
01:23:46,254 --> 01:23:50,557
that they feel as if
they're living in my ears,
1626
01:23:50,725 --> 01:23:52,793
and it's, like, deafening.
1627
01:23:52,961 --> 01:23:55,763
I can - Honestly, I cannot
hear anything that you're saying.
1628
01:23:55,930 --> 01:23:57,031
You have to shout.
1629
01:23:57,198 --> 01:24:01,402
I have to learn to relax
and look up straight.
1630
01:24:01,569 --> 01:24:03,270
I can't see a thing.
1631
01:24:03,438 --> 01:24:06,240
The bees are shading my eyes.
1632
01:24:06,408 --> 01:24:09,610
Can you see that?
I can hardly see a thing now.
1633
01:24:09,778 --> 01:24:11,745
It's awful.
1634
01:24:11,913 --> 01:24:17,317
Under the weight of 50,000 bees,
I'm feeling totally isolated.
1635
01:24:17,485 --> 01:24:19,319
I'm starting to panic again.
1636
01:24:19,487 --> 01:24:22,056
I want this to end now.
1637
01:24:22,223 --> 01:24:23,090
Please.
1638
01:24:23,258 --> 01:24:24,925
Ruud, I thought you might like to see
1639
01:24:25,093 --> 01:24:26,960
how you appear in the mirror, so...
1640
01:24:27,128 --> 01:24:28,629
- Oh, no...
- Take a look.
1641
01:24:28,797 --> 01:24:30,264
Oh, you're joking.
1642
01:24:30,432 --> 01:24:32,099
Oh, no, look at this!
1643
01:24:32,267 --> 01:24:35,002
Ah, this is amazing.
1644
01:24:39,874 --> 01:24:41,809
Hmm.
1645
01:24:44,112 --> 01:24:48,582
This is what you call
ultimate trust in insects.
1646
01:24:48,750 --> 01:24:50,050
They're not out to kill us.
1647
01:24:50,218 --> 01:24:52,319
That's not what they're about.
1648
01:24:52,487 --> 01:24:54,822
They're about to defend their honey,
1649
01:24:54,989 --> 01:24:56,623
because we always steal it,
1650
01:24:56,791 --> 01:25:02,696
and I reckon this is the most
powerful way of finding that out.
1651
01:25:02,864 --> 01:25:04,431
[Buzzing continues]
1652
01:25:04,599 --> 01:25:07,301
Okay, Ruud, it's time to get these bees off.
1653
01:25:07,469 --> 01:25:08,569
[Puffing]
1654
01:25:12,540 --> 01:25:14,842
A little bit on your cheek here,
huh, to start with?
1655
01:25:15,009 --> 01:25:15,876
- Whoops.
- Ugh!
1656
01:25:16,044 --> 01:25:17,077
I'm sorry. My fault.
1657
01:25:17,245 --> 01:25:19,246
I'm stung! I'm stung!
1658
01:25:19,414 --> 01:25:21,048
Will they attack?
1659
01:25:27,555 --> 01:25:29,723
Thank God, they stay calm.
1660
01:25:29,891 --> 01:25:31,425
I can't believe it.
1661
01:25:31,593 --> 01:25:33,227
I've done it.
1662
01:25:33,394 --> 01:25:35,329
But don't you do any of the things
1663
01:25:35,497 --> 01:25:37,131
you've seen me do on this show.
1664
01:25:37,298 --> 01:25:41,168
You have to be an expert
to face up to the world's baddest bugs
1665
01:25:41,336 --> 01:25:44,638
an expert and a little bit crazy.
1666
01:25:44,806 --> 01:25:47,007
Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,
ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
1667
01:25:48,543 --> 01:25:50,711
You are essentially
free of bees, my good man.
1668
01:25:50,879 --> 01:25:51,879
Wow.
1669
01:25:52,046 --> 01:25:53,514
And you got two stings. Yeah.
1670
01:25:53,681 --> 01:25:55,182
Well, I'm sorry about that, but you know
1671
01:25:55,350 --> 01:25:56,984
it could have been 50,000...
1672
01:25:57,152 --> 01:25:59,786
- Yeah, I know...
- Under other circumstances.
1673
01:25:59,954 --> 01:26:01,588
I've never done anything
like this in my life,
1674
01:26:01,756 --> 01:26:06,426
and, um, I feel that
I put my trust in the bees
1675
01:26:06,594 --> 01:26:10,063
and what I know about them
and entered their world.
1676
01:26:10,231 --> 01:26:12,432
And I'll tell you
what you are constantly aware,
1677
01:26:12,600 --> 01:26:17,337
if you make one such thing
as a wrong move, you're history.
1678
01:26:17,505 --> 01:26:20,607
Oops. That's it. You got to play their game.
1679
01:26:21,709 --> 01:26:24,311
What a stunt to finish on.
1680
01:26:24,479 --> 01:26:26,547
But we've done it. Yeah, we've done it!
1681
01:26:26,714 --> 01:26:29,049
[Laughing]
1682
01:26:29,217 --> 01:26:30,450
Whoo-hoo!
1683
01:26:30,618 --> 01:26:32,553
[Screaming]
1684
01:26:34,389 --> 01:26:36,089
Does it taste bad?
1685
01:26:36,257 --> 01:26:39,560
Hoo!
1686
01:26:39,727 --> 01:26:42,196
[Screaming]
1687
01:26:43,498 --> 01:26:44,865
Ah, you did it!
1688
01:26:45,033 --> 01:26:46,099
Aye!
1689
01:26:46,267 --> 01:26:47,434
I call.
1690
01:26:47,602 --> 01:26:48,769
That's right, I did.
1691
01:26:48,937 --> 01:26:50,003
Whoa! Okay.
1692
01:26:50,171 --> 01:26:51,505
I'd like another one.
1693
01:26:51,673 --> 01:26:53,640
Ah! Ah, ah.
1694
01:26:55,577 --> 01:26:56,710
Yeah-ha!
1695
01:26:56,878 --> 01:26:58,478
Yeah!
121170
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