All language subtitles for Attack and Defend Series 1 5of6 Masters of Defense 1080p

(♪♪♪)

Apex predators are usually
on the offensive.

They have evolved tools
to kill.

Then there are the animals,
who've evolved to escape,

deceive
and even poison these predators.

Don't underestimate
the power of prey.

These cutting creatures are
all masters of defense.

(♪♪♪)

In fields and gardens, it's
common to spot wasps and bees.

But next time you see some,
look closely.

They might be flies in disguise.

This isn't a wasp or a bee.

It's a hoverfly.

It's a species that mimics bees
to fool predators

with relatives like these
that mimic wasps.

For hoverflies like these, the
best defense is a good pretence.

Without biting jaws
or stingers,

they depend on illusion
to survive.

Many hoverflies have
bee-like stripes, coloring

and body hair;

all to trick predators
into thinking

they're a dangerous snack
to eat.

Bees and wasps have a defense
that hoverflies don't.

Powerful stingers
that predators avoid.

So the hoverfly has
taken advantage of this strategy

and evolved to be
a Batesian mimic.

Batesian mimicry is where
you're a palatable species,

but to avoid being eaten
by predators,

you evolve a similarity
to an unpalatable species.

And that similarity is
often morphological,

so it's in terms of
your appearance.

But sometimes
it can also be behavior.

For a hoverfly
that behavior can mean

flying in a bee-like pattern,
making stinging motions,

without actually having
a stinger

and even moving like a bee.

Like all good mimics,
the hoverfly knows

the most important part
of the con game is confidence.

There's a certain swagger
to many wasps and bees.

And they know they're
well-defended

and they act like it too.

So they'll move around

and they'll quake their wings
in a certain way.

When you look
at the mimetic hoverflies,

a number of them also do that.

They have this little swagger
as they walk around.

A sort of a cocky appearance,
if you like.

Some species even mimic
the long antennae of wasps.

So what do they do
if they're perfect mimics,

their legs are the color of
the bee or wasp antennae

that they're mimicking,

and they stick their legs out
in front

and wave their legs
like antennae.

Fantastic.

And when it
comes to hoverflies,
size definitely matters.

In many cases,

the bigger the hoverfly,
the more convincing the mimicry.

The larger the species,

the better its mimicry
of wasps or bees.

And the small hoverflies
tend to be relatively poor

in terms of how closely similar
they were

to the wasps or bees.

What we think is going on

is that if you're a big meal
to a predator,

predators will take
a very strong interest in you.

And so if you're going to gain
from mimicry,

you really have to carry it off
very well.

But despite
their clever masquerade,

many hoverflies can easily be
distinguished

from bees and wasps.

Bees and wasps have four wings.

The hoverfly only has two,

but can flap theirs
about a 1,000 times a minute

to hover in mid-air.

A hoverfly wing also has
what's called a vena spuria,

meaning false vein in Latin.

Embarking along its length
it looks like a vein,

but it's not.

Bees and wasps, all have
true venation in their wings.

If we look really closely,
though,

we can tell the difference.

So how convincing are they
to birds,

major predators of hoverflies

and the creatures
they're actually trying to fool?

The answer may be found in
the tiny hairs of the abdomen

of the hoverfly mimics.

Many bees and wasps have hairs
on their abdomen

that are patterned.

But the patterns are
only visible in UV light.

As it happens,
many birds can see in UV.

So the hoverflies mimics
the patterns

that the bees and wasps have
on these hairs.

The UV markings are invisible
to human eyes

with three types of cones
in their retinas,

but visible to birds,
who have four.

This means that to a bird,

they are able to see this whole
new range of ultraviolet colors

that we are unable to imagine.

And so it's possible that
these hoverflies

and wasps and bees
have ultraviolet markings,

which are invisible to us.

So while the mimicry might be
imperfect to humans,

it might, in fact, be perfect
to birds.

And that's a good thing,

because hoverflies
like their bee counterparts

are prodigious pollinators.

As adults, their diet consists
of nectar and honey dew.

They're one of the few insects
that can actually digest pollen.

They're as important as bees
in many ecosystems,

particularly,
as you go north in latitude

or south in latitude.

So towards
the temperate regions,

flies become more important
as pollinators than bees.

Approximately
6,000 species of hoverflies
encompass the world.

That's a really big family
of phonies.

Hoverflies are true survivors,
masters of disguise

and some of nature's
greatest pretenders.

As light and lovely
as they seem,

butterflies are
masters of defense.

It took millions of years
of evolution for them

to blossom into the complicated
creatures they are today.

Butterflies will
entirely transform themselves

three times
before reaching adulthood

in a 4-staged process
known as complete metamorphosis.

These physical transformations

aren't the hardest part
of a butterfly's life.

The biggest challenge
to a tiny butterfly?

Staying alive long enough
to make it to their final form.

Butterflies have some impressive
tricks for staying alive.

Their first line of defense
starts before they're even born.

Butterflies place their eggs
on the underside of a leaf.

Placing them
on the ridges of a leaf's vein

will help camouflage the eggs
from would-be predators.

But that's about all the help

an infant butterfly
is going to get from mom.

Once they've become
caterpillars,

they're on their own.

But these small arthropods have
a whole buffet of defenses

at their disposal.

Some caterpillars
like this zebra,

have spines
all along their bodies.

So these little spines
make them quite unpalatable.

It'd be like chewing
a lobster claw

without removing the claw.

These spines also release
a small amount of acidic fluid

that irritates predators.

So if a bird or a lizard eats
one caterpillar,

they're going to
have that sensation of burning

and they'll learn very quickly
not to eat another one.

When it's not on the defensive,

a caterpillar spends
all of its time eating.

It needs to build up
its energy levels

to begin
its final transformation.

These fragile-looking structures
are critically important

to the survival of a butterfly.

Chrysalises can come in
all shapes and sizes,

every one designed
to defend its inhabitants.

When a butterfly caterpillar
has pupated

and it's in its chrysalis form,
they have to blend in,

because they can't move
and get away from any predators.

So they do this by primarily
a type of camouflage.

So it can be either
the color of the chrysalis

or the shape of the chrysalis.

So some chrysalis are shaped
very much like a berry.

Some of them are shaped like
the end of a branch,

so they look just like
an extension of the plant

that they're sitting on.

There's also chrysalis
that are brilliantly colored

and they actually reflect
light off them.

Inside these tiny vessels,

a caterpillar's hard at work
digesting its own body.

They use enzymes
to break themselves down

into an oozy caterpillar soup,

only to rebuild and emerge as
a magnificent butterfly.

Butterflies sometimes struggle
to emerge from their capsules.

This one is having
a difficult time.

Its head is stuck.

Eventually,
it manages to break free.

Once each appendage is out,

a butterfly must get a good grip
on its host plant.

This step is critical
to the emergence process

because new adult butterflies
are full of a heavy fluid.

If they drop,
it's a fall to the death.

They use the fluid in their
bodies to pump up wings.

Once it takes its maiden flight,
a butterfly is truly an adult.

Adult butterflies have some
defensive tricks of their own.

They use camouflage to blend in

and disruptive coloring
to confuse predators.

Some species,
like the owl butterfly,

use mimicry to pose as a larger
animal than they really are

Often making themselves look

like a threatening predator
themselves.

They have beautiful,
beautiful large eyespots

as you can see here.

So this eyespot actually looks
a little bit

like the eye of a predator.

Instead of somebody coming along
and thinking this is lunch,

they're gonna think,
"Maybe, I better run."

But even with
all of these defenses,

scientists are still discovering
new adaptations

that butterflies use
to evade predators.

It's recently been brought
to light

that many species
actually have ears

that help them defend themselves
from creatures on the hunt.

Most people
actually don't realize

that butterflies have ears.

But most butterflies
don't make sounds

and so people haven't really
looked for their hearing organs

and we've been discovering
that some butterflies have

actually really well-developed
miniature hearing organs

at the bases of their wings.

Butterfly ears evolved
millions of years ago

when nocturnal moths
adapted ears

to evade bat predators at night.

After many species transitioned
to be active during the day,

scientists now suspect
that their ears are used

to evade daytime predators
like birds.

With defenses like these,
in each stage of their lives,

butterflies are
well-equipped for survival.

If a butterfly can maintain
its defenses

and live through the year,

it might finally get
a little time to itself to rest

and start the cycle
all over again.

(♪♪♪)

Yellow.

Red.

Yellow.

Black.

A warning sign to stay away.

A signal that danger
has just crossed your path.

These are the colors
of the coral snake,

a member of
the elapid family of snakes

and one of the most deadly.

Cobras, mambas, kraits,
those are elapids.

They have small,
front-fixed fangs.

They're also far more
toxic venom than vipers.

And they are therefore
the most toxic species

of venomous snake
in the Americas.

How dangerous is
this coral snake?

If a bite is left untreated,

its venom can cause
muscular paralysis,

eventually leading to full-on
respiratory or cardiac failure.

Over time,

predators like bears,
foxes, possums and hawks

have learned to stay away
from the coral snake

by adapting the ability
to distinguish

its bold color pattern from
that of less-dangerous snakes.

Those would-be predators
have learned

that if they are bitten
by something

marked yellow, red,
yellow, black, they will die.

If you think of it
like a stop light,

right before you stop,
the light turns yellow.

So the red and the yellow
touch each other,

the yellow and the red
slow down, stop.

So the red and yellow patterning
on a coral snake

tells you that same thing.

Slow down.

Stop.

In terms of survival,

this coral snake's
distinctive pattern

has proved to be
a perfect defense mechanism.

Science has shown that
a predator's reluctance

to attack this coral snake
because of its iconic pattern

is sometimes imprinted
in predators,

even in newborns
that have never seen one.

So as a series of experiments

that had been done in Costa Rica
and Panama,

where these baby birds that had
never seen this pattern before,

would freak out and run to the
other side of their cages.

But what about snakes
that aren't so dangerous?

Snakes like
this scarlet kingsnake

with no deadly bite to speak of,

it has no real way
of defending itself.

It's an
undefended prey species,

is one that has no means of
deterring predators

from attackin' it.

Whereas a defended prey species
might have noxious chemicals

or venom or something like that

to keep predators
from wanting to bite it.

So if this scarlet king

is completely vulnerable
to predators,

how does it survive?

By being
a world-class impersonator.

A total fake.

A gun with no bullets.

Riding the coattails
of the coral snake,

the scarlet king has adapted
to look like its toxic cousin.

There's a lot of mimicry that
goes on in the animal kingdom.

They want to trick predators
into leaving them alone.

They try to fool predators
into thinkin',

"Do you really wanna
take a chance?

Are you feelin' lucky?"

Like the hoverfly,

the scarlet king's
crafty con job

is another case of
Batesian mimicry.

One type of mimicry is
Batesian mimicry,

where you have
a dangerous animal,

which is nonetheless
a prey species

and it is sometimes mimicked
by a non-venomous animal.

But how does
the scarlet kingsnake

come to mimic the coral snake
in the first place?

How does it physically evolve
and change its skin patterns?

Snakes produce coloration
through these cell groups

that are called chromatophores.

And the scarlet kingsnake
and the coral snake

and all other snakes,
in fact,

use the same suite of pigments
to produce their colouration.

Natural selection is
the driving force behind
this mimicry.

If the scarlet kingsnake
resembles a coral snake

more than others in the area,

then it will stay alive longer

and will be better able
to reproduce.

Then that resemblance will
very quickly spread

throughout the population,

because often times, one animal
will be so much better defended

than all the rest of
the population

that quickly its offspring will
come to dominate that spices.

But as far as
impersonators go,

this scarlet kingsnake is
far from perfect.

They try their best to
copycat but can't beat
the original.

Like a cheap knock-off,

it's managed to resemble
the original.

But a closer look reveals
that the scarlet king's pattern

is slightly different.

So the coral snake
has its rings

in the order
yellow, red, yellow, black.

And then the scarlet kingsnake
has its rings

in the order black, red,
black, yellow.

And that's like something
that is very obvious to a human

if the human has, you know,
both snakes to look at

side by side.

And to remind us of
this key difference,

there is even a riddle
that some use

to keep themselves
out of danger.

Red and yellow, kill the fellow.

Red and black, friend of jack
or venom lack.

As well, whereas the tip of
the coral snake's nose is black,

this scarlet king's snout
is red.

So what good is imitation
if it is not perfect?

Apparently,
when it comes to telling

the real thing from the fake,

the scarlet king has its enemies
totally fooled.

Predators apparently don't care
about the difference.

I did a huge experiment

where I put out hundreds of
clay snakes

all throughout North Carolina.

And if you have something that
has a phenotype of a coral snake

or a phenotype of a king snake.

So the same colors
but different patterns,

predators actually
don't care about the difference.

Predators just don't have time

or the cognitive capacity
to perform that discrimination.

They just do
a quick-snap judgement.

They say,

"Okay, that snake has the right
amount of red and black.

I'm not gonna touch it."

And that's all that
engenders them with protection.

And while this scarlet kingsnake

poses little threat to
predators and humans,

it has gotten by fooling many,

pulling off a most daring
and devilish facade.

(♪♪♪)

At first glance,
frogs seems pretty friendly.

There is a reason
they're used as kids' toys

and famous Muppets.

But these frogs are not
for children or adults.

One drop of their venom
can kill a person.

They are poison dart frogs.

They're about the size of
a paper clip

and come in a crayon box
assortment of vivid colors.

But their brightly-colored skin
oozes toxic venom.

They got their name because

indigenous tribes
used this poison

to soak deadly blowgun darts
for hunting.

But the frogs
don't use it for hunting.

They use it solely to defend
themselves against predators.

The toxins
help protect the frog.

When the predator comes along
and tries to eat it,

the toxins can actually paralyze
or even kill the predator

that's trying to come at it.

The toxin is called
"lipophilic alkaloid".

It kills by going straight
to the muscles

stopping them from flexing.

This means
when it gets to critical muscles

like the heart
and the diaphragm,

the victim can't breathe
and blood can't flow.

Scientists aren't sure
where the poison dart frogs

get this venom
in the first place,

they think that the frogs poison
is created

by eating a specific type
of native arthropod,

since frogs raised in captivity
never develop the poison.

But the frogs would rather
their enemies never even try it.

That's where this
incredible coloring comes in.

Poison dart frogs come in
a rainbow's worth of colors.

It changes depending on
where exactly the frog lives.

The coloring serves as
a warning to predators

that they're deadly,
so stay away.

These frogs evolved this
bright colouration

to advertise the fact
that they're very well-defended.

There have been
a number of experiments

done by other researches

where they have put out
replicas of frogs

of various color patterns

and they've shown that if you
have the right color pattern

that matches the local morph
of poison frog,

then you're well-defended
from predators.

Certain poison dart frogs
have strange unique patterns
as well.

That's also to help them hide
from predators

by making their features
difficult to distinguish.

Frogs are masters of breaking
up their facial features.

They can have stripes
across their eyes.

They can have bands that
run down the length of the head

and down their back.

And this all helps to break up

their characteristic
face feature's

making it difficult for things
like birds and snakes

to recognize them.

There are 100 different
species of poison dart frogs,

but this one is the most deadly.

The golden poison dart frog.

In fact,

it's considered one of the most
poisonous animals on Earth.

The golden poison dart
frog is from the
Amazonian rainforests

in Colombia.

It's isolated
to about five locations

and it's pretty crazy because
it has enough poison in it

to kill 15 to 20 humans,
just one frog.

This incredible defense
system seems to be working
quite well.

Only one snake has come up
with immunity to the venom.

These frogs are nowhere near
as innocent as they look.

They may be little,

but they pack a lethal punch
that makes predators beware.

Staying alive is job one
for these masters of defense.

With clever adaptations

like mimicry
and poison on their side,

they continue
to outwit predators to survive.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)