Original subtitles

You might think life is simple

for an ant no bigger than a grain of rice,

or a little peanut-sized bee.

Both just starting out

still safe in their nests.

But now it's time to venture into the outside world,

and life is about to get complicated.

Welcome to the jungle,

a bewildering tangle of life.

The rain forests of Latin America

are home to a third of all species on Earth.

This place is bug-tropolis.

With thousands of different kinds of bugs

living on each tree.

The only way to survive somewhere so crowded

is to find your place, do your job,

and watch your back.

Now, our two young rookies must figure out where they fit in.

Turns out, even the smallest, most insignificant-looking bug

has a huge role to play.

Basking in tropical sun and full of growth,

the canopy is the perfect place

for an eager young orchid bee to find flowers.

He's fueling up for a busy first day.

A very special mission for a very special bee.

He's a handsome little guy for sure,

but lady bees are more interested in how he smells.

So, to attract a mate, he needs to create a scent

that smells as sweet as he looks.

But becoming a master perfumier

takes more than visiting a few flowers.

There are more interesting fragrances in the forest.

The trick is finding them.

Good thing orchid bees can travel 15 miles a day.

In bee terms, that's like flying from New York to LA.

Only his flight path won't be so straightforward.

Down on the forest floor, it's a whole other world.

Only 2% of sunlight reaches here,

so there's not much fresh growth.

Not a great start for the newest recruit

to the leafcutter labor force.

Her only job is to collect fresh green leaves.

Slim pickings down here.

So, somehow she has to get way up there.

But it's her first day.

Where to begin?

Luckily, a quarter a million sisters can show her the way.

The trail: nature's most impressive production line.

A highway leading right into the canopy.

Signposted all the way with pheromones.

But to a first-timer, it's chaos.

Every few inches, she gets stopped.

Everyone's telling her where to go, what to do.

Stay calm.

There's a method to this madness.

The ants coming in tell the ants going out

where the best leaves are.

And today's tree is 300 feet away.

In ant land, that's a 10-mile commute.

Oh, man.

This could take a while.

Nothing slow about this little explorer.

With three extra eyes sensitive to polarized light,

he can navigate by the sun even when he can't see it.

Buzzing at 20 miles per hour,

he's searching for perfume ingredients,

with antennae that can detect a single molecule on the breeze.

Mmm.

What's that sweet smell coming from the forest floor?

Oh.

Nothing sweet about an elephant beetle.

Maybe it's the cocoa pod he's munching on.

Mmm, chocolate!

He soaks up the scent with his fluffy front feet...

...then squeezes it into special perfume pouches

on his back legs.

A good start.

Who doesn't like chocolate?

But that's only one ingredient.

He needs to blend a perfume cocktail.

So this mixologist better move quick.

Thankfully, he's one of the best flyers in the forest.

Hold up. A challenger?

Eee! Ow!

Nah, never mind.

Onwards, mix master!

There's plenty of scents to choose from

on the forest floor.

Fancy flowers,

funky fungi,

even earthy aromas.

But there's also danger down here.

The jungle's top predator is on patrol.

No, not these guys.

They're just pussy cats.

This forest is haunted by something far deadlier.

A creature that can kill 30,000 times a day.

And it's not just one of them;

it's a swarm.

Army ants.

Each one is only half an inch,

but when half a million are on the march...

...they destroy any bug in their path.

And once they've decimated one area...

...they move on to the next.

The little leafcutter hasn't met

her carnivorous cousins yet,

but sooner or later, their paths will cross.

Two hours into her first day,

and she's almost at the tree.

But down here, you're always at the mercy of the heavens.

It's gridlock.

Debris on the highway can make traffic 10 times slower.

She's running late.

But don't worry,

there's a dedicated team of road workers

for jobs like this.

Finally, time for her first ascent.

Getting to the canopy

is like scaling 20 Empire State Buildings.

Just keep following the trail.

Don't mind King Kong, he's a big softy.

The bee can home in on ant pheromones, too.

But they're not pungent enough.

Mmm. Millipede smells kinda almondy.

On the right track,

but full of cyanide.

Keep trying, though.

The best scents have the most unlikely sources.

Once a week, sloths descend to the ground.

Like all things they do,

it's a slow process.

All that time just to find a place to--

Hmm.

Could that be?

Oh, man.

Is he really?

Oh, that's, that's a little disgusting.

Okay, maybe not the sweetest thing he'll land on,

but dung is a source of skatole.

It helps keep a scent lingering on the air.

Even human perfumiers use it.

And lady bees love it.

Just don't tell her where it came from.

Well, that's number two in the bag.

Just one last ingredient to finish off this fragrance.

Up in the treetops, there's a fresher breeze.

Finally our little leafcutter has reached the canopy.

So this is where the harvest happens.

Everyone's working hard

before the weather turns.

Slicing through leaves

and bouncing their booties as they go.

It creates rhythmic vibrations

that other ants feel in their feet.

Like a leafcutter samba,

it gets everyone joining in where the good leaves are.

After that long commute,

she's getting her groove on, too.

With jaw muscles a quarter of her body weight

and serrated syncline mandibles,

even a first-timer can power through her work.

This is almost too easy.

Rookie error.

Well, that's certainly a quicker way down.

But this is no place for a leafcutter

to be lost and alone.

The army ants have set up camp close by.

A living fortress made of soldiers.

But they don't rest for long.

With half a million mouths to feed,

they need to hunt every day.

The leafcutter better find her sisters quick.

The army is so close.

She can almost smell them.

Wait, that's not army ants.

It's something more familiar.

Faint at first, getting stronger...

the trail!

Back on track.

Close to the nest and still carrying her precious leaf.

Just one tiny problem: it's toxic.

Hold on, you're telling me

the ants can't even eat these leaves?

After all that effort?

Yep. Seems so.

They have a workaround that will blow your mind.

Leafcutter ants are amazing farmers.

They figured out how to turn toxic leaves into compost.

And they use it to cultivate a very special fungus.

It only grows in leafcutter nests,

and it feeds the entire colony.

It's made them the most successful vegetarians

in the jungle.

But this colony is small and vulnerable.

It needs to grow bigger.

The queen can lay 25,000 eggs a day.

But more ants need more food.

So, it's up to every little leafcutter

to keep those leaves coming in.

Our orchid bee has been busy, too,

searching for that final ingredient.

Nothing going on down here.

But an amazing aroma is coming from above.

Now, that's no ordinary floral fragrance.

It's a very special kind of orchid.

Unfortunately, he's late to the party.

Bucket orchids produce a rare scent

to attract orchid bees.

And it works.

So many males here, a little bee must learn to muscle in.

But most of the good stuff's been taken.

Gotta reach further.

A bit further...

A small slip-up.

But it could lead to big problems.

Most afternoons, dark, heavy clouds roll in.

It's called the rain forest for a reason.

14 feet of the stuff falls each year.

These downpours are the life source of the forest.

But from a bug's perspective...

...it's Armageddon.

Each drop hits like a bomb.

And rain can be way more destructive than that.

Bromeliad plants are designed to catch water.

The biggest can hold five gallons.

Even when the storm stops...

...a quarter of the rainfall is still trapped in the canopy.

One branch can only take so much.

And now the elephant beetle is flying up to the canopy.

One of the world's heaviest insects.

Uh-oh.

Falling branches are a daily hazard here.

But to a bug...

...it's like your whole world

has come crashing down.

The survivors emerge from the wreckage.

But the little bee is trapped.

Right now, that might be a good thing.

Maybe just stay put.

The army ants have located the leafcutter nest.

It's the perfect size;

small enough to invade,

big enough to plunder.

It's eggs they're after.

The leafcutter ants fight valiantly.

But they're outnumbered.

The army has breached the nursery.

The little leafcutter can't save the eggs now.

But sensing an alarm signal,

she does something extraordinary.

Joining the other workers,

she becomes part of a living shield,

surrounding their queen,

keeping her safe from attack...

...while the invaders just keep coming.

Once all the eggs have been taken...

...finally, the raid is over.

It's safe to come out now.

But it's a tight squeeze.

Just what the orchid intended,

so it can stick two pollen sacs to his back.

The orchid needs someone to carry its pollen

to other flowers.

And there's no better delivery boy

than this little bee.

On his quest for new scents,

he helps rare plants,

strange mushrooms,

even the biggest trees to reproduce.

His exploring ways keep the whole forest growing strong.

Back in the ant nest,

one little leafcutter has made a huge difference, too.

Her selfless nature helped save the day,

which saved the queen.

As long as she's alive, the colony can rebuild.

But only with the help and dedication

of every little leafcutter.

So, she better get back to work.

It's easy to overlook the things little creatures do.

But look closer.

If these two tiny young bugs

can play such vital roles in the rain forest,

imagine the amazing things all the others do

to keep this wonderful world alive.

As for the bee,

well, maybe all his hard work was worth it after all.

It's time to try out his signature scent.

The best perfumes are more than a fragrance; they tell a story.

A tale of an intrepid bee

with the skill to survive an epic jungle journey.

And all because a lady loves the scents of adventure.

His very first display...

...and already he seems to have an admirer.

Not bad for a newbie.