Welcome to Beetlemania, a show that celebrates the incredible insects of the planet Earth.
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Forget about kings and presidents and conquerors. Bugs are the real rulers of the Earth. In fact, bugs are the largest animal group on our planet.
Scientists estimate that there are 12,000 species living in just a couple of acres of rainforest. And that's just our friends, the beetles. Talk about a crowded neighborhood.
Some types of beetles are really dangerous. But don't worry, they advertise that fact by displaying bold warning colors like red, yellow and black. The message is clear. Keep away.
The beetles may seem unimportant, but the truth is they are among the most important bugs around because these tiny insects are the recyclers of our planet.
They recycle dead and dying plants, animals and food matter. We can all take a lesson from the beetles when it comes to recycling our own garbage.
One group of beetles in Africa recycle an estimated 15 tons of elephant dung every day. Wow, that is one big compost pile. Oh, and by the way, elephant dung is better known as elephant poop.
The cicada sheds its skin after spending 17 years underground.
Sucking the sap from the plant roots, the nymph develops very slowly. Finally, the nymph climbs up the trunk of a tree.
Calling attracts a mate. Eggs are laid and the newly hatched larva are born and the whole cycle begins again.
Beginning from eggs that were laid in a plant stem, the tiny nymph hatches and falls to the ground, tunneling along with its front legs. It is now that the larval skin splits and the crumpled adult pulls itself free.
Insects display some of nature's most brilliant colors. The ladybug, like many other beetles, gets its color from the food it eats.
Ladybugs get their red and yellow pigments from substances called flavones that come from foods they eat, which happens to be other insects.
The ladybug larva is an active hunter. It protects itself with poisonous spiny hairs.
Ladybugs are the pest masters of the insect world. Every year, billions of these friendly little beetles are released in orchards, gardens and greenhouses all over the world.
They are the natural alternative to chemical pesticides.
For many insects, being seen can be quite dangerous. The praying mantis is the perfect example of deception and trickery.
It actually looks like a part of the plant that it is sitting on. As long as the mantis remains still, it is practically invisible to any attacker.
This camouflage works in other ways. The praying mantis is also a predator. Its coloration helps it sneak up on its next lunch.
Hidden and camouflaged, the mantis waits to ambush a hapless grasshopper who has wandered too close.
The mantis uses its viciously armed, scissor-like front legs to trap and kill its victim.
The mantis catches its prey not with its mouthparts, but between the second and third sections of its front legs.
There is no escape from the vice-like grip as the mantis chews its prey.
Grasshoppers and beetles are not the only choice on the menu. The mating ritual of the mantis includes an interesting dish.
The male mantis actually becomes the dinner. That's right, sacrificing himself for his offspring, the male's head is devoured by the female while mating.
Inside the male's head, there are a bundle of nerves that prevent mating from occurring.
It is only after the head is eaten that the male can copulate successfully.
Praying mantis make great pets. They need a place to hang out, a meal once a week or so, plus they are very clean and they don't bite or sting.
They also have great eyes. I mean, who could ask for more in a pet?
This furry little animal is a pine martin. Martins are members of the weasel family who are all very skillful hunters.
Since martins are small, they hunt smaller animals. One of its favorite prey is the grasshopper.
Wherever grass grows, that's where you'll find our friends, the grasshoppers.
Did you know that the world's largest grasshopper is 10 inches long and that it can jump 5 and a quarter yards?
You know what? That is the same thing as you going outside right now and jumping over 98 feet.
By the way, the human record for jumping is about 29 and a half feet.
The grasshopper makes music. Want to try something cool? Rub your fingernail along a comb and you'll get the same effect.
On a warm summer's afternoon, the meadows buzz with the songs of the male grasshoppers.
The females listen to the serenade and move around so that the ears on their knees, that's right, I said the ears on their knees, can pinpoint the location of the most attractive sounding male.
Birds are formidable predators for grasshoppers.
Now this bird is the endangered grasshopper sparrow. It eats mostly insects, especially grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers swarm during their mating season. They can number in the millions.
When they defend against a bird attack, the lover grasshoppers emit a poisonous, foul-smelling spray delivered with a loud hissing noise.
Grasshoppers use surprise tactics to distract predators. Noisy takeoffs work best, but only if the takeoff happens before the grasshopper is caught.
These were the biggest insects that ever lived. Fossils of dragonflies and damselflies date back 300 million years.
Dragonflies can do one thing that other flying insects cannot do. They can move their wings independently and fly both forward and backward with amazing speed.
Giant dragonflies as big as crows with a wingspan of 30 inches flitted through the fern forest 300 million years ago.
Every pond should have some dragonflies because they destroy large numbers of pesky, biting mosquitoes.
Dragonflies mate in the air and eggs are deposited in or near water.
Dragonflies are aquatic predators that capture insects, tadpoles and even small fish.
When fully grown, the naid crawls out of the water, splits its skin along the middle and releases the adult.
The head of the dragonfly moves freely. It has huge compound eyes that almost cover its entire head.
Thousands of tiny facets in each eye give a very detailed image, just like a digital picture.
Each eye has up to 50,000 facets. Common houseflies have 4,000 per eye.
Not all spiders spin webs. Some live in burrows, which they line with silk, while others have no retreat at all.
Spiders are not insects. They are arachnids. They are named after Arachne, a girl in a Greek legend who won a weaving contest with the goddess Athena.
The goddess was so angry that Arachne killed herself. Athena was sorry and turned Arachne's body into a spider so she could keep on weaving.
Even big spiders are safe in their web. Think again. Birds are very fond of having spiders for lunch.
And a crow once gulped down 722 of the eight-legged critters. I bet that's a new record.
Not all spiders have a poisonous bite, but not all spider bites are fatal to humans.
Of the 30,000 different kinds of spiders in our world, only about 30 are dangerous to people.
Many animals and insects announce they are poisonous by the colors they wear. Spiders, however, do not always follow this rule.
Some spiders are very colorful, but are completely harmless.
This spider uses color to trick a potential predator into believing it is poisonous.
It will be passed by in favor of a safer snack.
Most insects have wings and fly. They can move faster and farther than you and I can.
Try following a bee around for a day and you'll see what I mean. Insects have six legs compared to our two.
It's not surprising then that walking is a favorite form of travel for insects like the beetles.
Let's play ball.
This dung beetle may look like it's playing a game, but rolling dung balls is its business.
Dung beetles in Africa are recycling 15 tons of dung a day.
Good job! Help keep our planet nice and clean.
If you have ever left a can of soda pop sitting outside for a long time, chances are a wasp came by to check it out.
Then before you know it, more wasps have found the can. How did they know the can of pop was there?
Wasps give off a scent called pheromones. This scent sends the message out to other wasps that food has been found.
People have been stealing honey from bees' nests since the Stone Age.
Honey isn't made from the pollen that bees collect. The pollen is used for feeding the young grubs.
A honeybee grub fed on pollen increases its weight by 1,500 times in only five days.
The honeybee delicately probes for nectar with its proboscis.
As it moves around the flower, its head and body become covered with pollen.
Using combs on its back legs, it sweeps the pollen into its pollen baskets located on its hind legs.
Hornets, a type of wasp, build round paper nests. If the nest is disturbed, the hornets will launch a vicious attack and sting the intruder.
Bumblebees are heavyweights in the bee body category.
Some flies look just like bees.
Did you ever wonder how ants communicate? It's simple, really.
They produce a series of clicks and taps by hitting solid objects with their jaws, called mandibles.
When they do this, the ant sends messages to other ants in the nest. It's kind of like Morris Code.
Living together has its advantages, such as safety in numbers and the combined strength and energy of the colony.
Family life based around prolonged care of the young is a rare feature in the insect world.
When an ant's nest is broken into, the most important task is to get the larval cocoons to safety.
Of all the ant species, the fire ant is the most feared.
It is not the excruciating bite itself, but the swarm that is deadly.
Fossils indicate that the many-legged centipedes and millipedes were the first insect-sized terrestrial creatures to roam the primeval forest some 400 million years ago.
Is it a centipede or a millipede?
Centipede means 100 feet and millipede means 1,000 feet.
If the feet have been counted and it's a millipede, no worry. These creepy crawlies are slow munchers of plants and decaying matter.
On the other hand, if the foot count is 100, beware. This swift-footed hunter has venomous fangs.
The centipede is a secretive animal coming out at night to look for food.
Its large jaws are hidden behind the first pair of legs.
These legs are modified to form the venomous fangs for killing prey.
A plump, juicy caterpillar is a tempting snack for a bird,
which will either eat the caterpillar or take it back to its nest to feed its young.
To avoid being a fast-food meal deal, caterpillars have developed a variety of defenses.
Camouflaging themselves to look like something less satisfying, like a twig or a leaf, works pretty well.
Showing off colors that say, stay away, are also an effective way to defend themselves.
When you combine all that with their hairy spines that inject poison,
most birds and other predators will avoid this most unpleasant meal.
A caterpillar molts several times during its life.
Getting rid of the old outer skin reveals a new, more elastic one that allows the caterpillar to grow.
Caterpillars are the offspring of butterflies.
Each caterpillar grows until it changes into a chrysalis, the pupa stage of the butterfly.
These legs were made for walking.
Although some butterflies live for years,
many only survive for a few weeks or even days, just long enough to mate and lay eggs.
While they are alive, one thing is for sure.
Few sites in nature are as beautiful and dramatic as butterflies.
Amphibians were the vertebrates to conquer land.
The name amphibian means to live a double life, specifically a creature that lives both on land and in the water.
There are other animals that begin life in the water that are not amphibians.
They are insects.
These insects use the water as nurseries.
The larvae develop underwater and change into adults that live on the land.
Now for the rest of the story.
Caution, what you are about to hear may be unsuitable for adults.
Dragonfly nymphs don't come to the surface for air.
They breathe like fish with gills.
The gills are not on the nymph's head as one would expect, but they are on their butt.
That's right, butt gills.
The young nymph draws water up its butt, over its gills, and into its abdomen.
If the nymph needs to escape a predator, it ejects the water from its abdomen with explosive force.
Well, now I guess we know the true meaning of a real butt sniff.
Water-dwelling insects have two obstacles to overcome.
One is how to breathe, and the other is how to get around.
The best way to get air is to come to the surface.
This backswimmer has a snorkel-like tube that pierces the surface of the water.
Occasionally, a backswimmer will attack a person's hand or bare leg, earning it the reputation as a water wasp.
These water striders walk easily on the water's surface by using the surface tension film to stay afloat, and they don't even get their feet wet.
Whirlygig beetles glide on the water's surface.
They often cluster in groups together, swimming in fast circles like ice skaters on a frozen lake.
Water scorpions are not good swimmers.
Their legs are better used for walking along the bottom.
Cat-as-fly larvae build houses out of sand, twigs, or whatever they can cover their bodies with.
The larva carries its home everywhere it goes for protection.
Meet the giant water bug.
This is one serious beetle.
Its main menu is the decaying remains of aquatic animals and small fish.
Jump right in there, but remember, something could be waiting for you just below the surface.
I hope you enjoyed the amazing world of beetle mania and all the other bugs that share our planet.
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