Original subtitles

Australia has some of the brightest...

..boldest and most alarming creepy-crawlies

on the planet.

In their miniature world,

nothing is quite what it seems.

Spiders look like ants.

Insects move like leaves.

They transform themselves for almost every purpose...

..from master-builder...

..to assassin.

Some work together.

Others, alone.

Each one is part of the great struggle for life...

..in this vast, ancient continent.

Home to some of the planet's most unusual...

..and fascinating animals.

These are the Secret Lives

of Australia's Bugs And Butterflies.

The wet tropics of Queensland,

in the far north-east of Australia.

Rainforest dominates here.

(Bird and insect noises)

To the human eye, there may be nothing to see but green.

But, from the canopy... to the forest floor...

..every inch of this fecund ecosystem

is packed with creatures.

Some are large and easily visible.

But there is another, more hidden, world here.

A small one, filled with life

that's complex, rich

and utterly ruthless.

A world of insects and spiders.

(Birdsong)

Nowhere else in Australia

has such a high diversity of bugs as here,

in Queensland's wet tropics.

This is a brutal eat-or-be-eaten environment.

And they've developed strategies to survive.

There are 400 species of butterfly in Australia.

For 60 per cent of them,

the tropics of Queensland are home.

Some are breathtaking.

The Red Lacewing.

Australia's only bright red butterfly.

And one of the few predominantly red butterflies in the world.

The colors of the Cairns Birdwing,

endemic to Australia, are even more spectacular.

At around six-and-a-half inches across,

this many-hued giant is

the largest butterfly in Australia.

From the bright orange Cruiser...

..to the patterned Common Eggfly...

..each butterfly adds its own dash of color.

They bring incredible vibrancy to the forest.

The dazzling shades and designs of their markings

are extraordinary.

But only for the briefest of times.

Most butterflies live for no more than four to six weeks.

Their wings are unable to heal from any kind of damage.

Each beat takes its toll.

The faster the insect flies...

..the more damage its wings suffer...

..and the shorter its life.

(Birdsong)

(Insects buzzing)

Egg-laying is where it all begins.

These miniature orbs are well-camouflaged.

Each butterfly lays hundreds

over the course of its short life.

Here, a Red Lacewing lays her eggs on the stem of a leaf.

She's not the first to use this nursery.

Like a shoal of fish, or a flock of birds...

..the Red Lacewing seeks safety in numbers

by laying in groups.

(Screeching)

For these eggs of the Cairns Birdwing,

the time has come to hatch.

It's been eight days since this egg was laid.

The tiny caterpillar has

another seven to nine weeks to go

before it becomes a butterfly.

As it feeds, it'll grow rapidly

and shed its skin at least four times.

Caterpillars grow in stages.

As they get too big for their skin,

they molt it off and replace it

with one that's a little more spacious.

These transformations require a lot of energy...

..and that means a lot of food.

(Munching)

This caterpillar lets nothing go to waste...

..including its old skin.

It's not really known why

caterpillars eat the skin they've shed.

It might be for extra nutrition.

Or it might be to remove all evidence of their presence,

so predators have no reason to come and take a closer look.

In the forest, nothing is safe.

Each individual is in perpetual danger.

They must be on constant guard.

This tiny caterpillar strays right into the jaws of

a ferocious weaver ant.

Another ant arrives to try and wrestle the prize away.

The caterpillar is caught in a tug-of-war.

Escape is impossible.

(Birdsong)

All caterpillars must protect themselves as best they can.

They evade, they fight and they poison

in their struggle to survive.

The caterpillar of the Common Eggfly is armed with

enough sharp spines to deter most birds.

The caterpillar of the Cruiser

is a bit of a bruiser.

It has the longest spines of any butterfly larva.

Its body is also highly toxic.

This caterpillar spends its short life

feeding on poisonous vines.

The vines do no harm to the larva itself,

but they make its body noxious to any predator.

Bright warning colors, known as aposematic coloration,

aim to deter attack.

They let predators know these caterpillars are toxic.

The caterpillar of the Cairns Birdwing

is an even more dangerous target.

It too eats leaves full of toxins

so its prickly body becomes poisonous to predators as well.

But it also has a secret weapon.

From its noxious food,

it creates a foul-tasting chemical.

When threatened, it can fire out this vile liquid

from the horns in its head.

Which just might be enough to discourage an attacker.

(Birdsong)

Two weeks have passed.

It's time for the caterpillar of the Cruiser butterfly

to move into the next stage of its life.

It must become a chrysalis.

The Cruiser caterpillar has moved away from the plant it's been feeding on

to one that provides plenty of leaves

and, importantly, cover.

Having prepared a pad of silk on the host leaf,

it now anchors on with a clump of special hooks

known as the cremaster.

Under its skin, the chrysalis forms.

It will remain a chrysalis between seven and 12 days.

A long time to be a sitting target.

But its leaf-like shape blends in with the foliage.

(Birds chattering)

The caterpillar of the Cairns Birdwing

has a different technique.

It too creates a pad of silk to anchor it to the stem...

..but it then spins itself a thin thread

that functions as a girdle.

Shedding the last of its caterpillar skins...

..it transforms into a chrysalis.

Over three to four weeks,

its cells gradually become liquid

and reorganize themselves into a new structure.

The final metamorphosis is beginning.

(Chatter of birds)

(Insects buzzing)

Down on the forest floor, life continues.

Millipedes look for food.

They feast on decaying vegetation...

..and perform a vital role in the ecosystem

by breaking down dead plant material.

(Frogs croaking)

At the waterside, frogs abound.

They lay their eggs in the calmest water they can find.

This aptly-named giant frog lays around a thousand eggs at a time.

The tadpoles and young frogs

become food for other species.

In the air, dragonflies dart.

They can fly faster than almost any other insect

and reach speeds of 36 miles an hour.

But even their agility and swiftness may not be enough

to protect them from the Archer Fish.

It favors mangrove estuaries, but ventures upriver.

Its powerful water jets

can hit an insect around six-and-a-half feet away.

For a caterpillar, choosing a pupating site

too near the water is dangerous.

(Lively classical music)

Four weeks after entering her chrysalis phase,

a female Cairns Birdwing emerges into the light.

It's one of the most extraordinary sights in the insect world.

The leftover cells she didn't need to form her new body

remain behind in a liquid called meconium.

She pumps fluid from her abdomen

into the veins of her delicate new wings.

It takes a few hours for them to harden and dry.

Then...she's ready for flight.

Her hind wings act as rudders..

..as she makes sharp turns to avoid any predators.

The butterfly has just six weeks to live.

She must mate as soon as possible

and pass on her genes to the next generation.

The spectacular emerald-hued males patrol the area,

looking for newly-emerged females.

A male has spotted her.

Now is the moment to get down to business.

The male is smaller than her.

Should they be disturbed during this vital act,

she will use her larger wingspan to fly off

and take the male with her.

They mate for up to 14 hours.

He'll fertilize each one of her eggs.

It's thought that he may remain with her after mating

to prevent any other male from gaining access.

Their lifespan is so short...

..but, by mating, they allow the circle of life to continue.

Soon the next generation of shape-shifters

will begin their transformation.

And, just like when their parents were caterpillars,

they will use camouflage, poison and mimicry

in their battles to defend themselves.

Mastering the art of disguise is a matter of survival.

(Kookaburra laughing)

These leaf insects are found

throughout Australia and Asia.

Nicknamed walking leaves,

they're the size, shape and color

of the surrounding foliage.

Their strange gyrations are also a sort of camouflage.

Shaky wobbles mimic the way leaves sway in the breeze.

It's a good disguise,

useful in deflecting the attention of predators

like the grey goshawk, which lives in the same forest.

(Water cascading)

Other insects use a different kind of mimicry.

For many bugs, wandering into the path of

these voracious weaver ants means certain death.

Aggressive and territorial.

Weaver ants would rather die

than relinquish their territory.

They work together to overpower...

..then dismember their prey.

They spread out like a giant net...

..letting nothing escape.

An established colony of weaver ants

can hunt down millions of victims each year.

This spider doesn't stand a chance.

However, this species of jumping spider

is an expert at disguise.

It's tricked the ants into thinking it's one of them.

The ants rely less on vision and more on chemical signals

to tell them what is friend and what is foe.

By adopting their chemical signature,

the spider is able to remain undetected.

The spider's chemical mimicry

isn't just a clever defense mechanism,

but also an aggressive predatory ploy.

Because the ants think the spider is one of them,

they won't stop it entering their nest

where it will prey on their eggs, larvae and pupae.

To be able to penetrate the defenses

of the weaver ant nest is remarkable.

It's one of the most formidable fortresses

in the forest.

And it's built by a mighty army

of these highly resourceful ants.

Found in Africa and Asia as well as Australia,

a colony of weaver ants can be half a million strong.

Alone, a single weaver ant is tiny...

..and vulnerable.

But together,

they become a mighty, many-celled workforce.

This is the definition of teamwork.

They're getting ready to construct a new base-camp.

The ants grip with their legs and jaws...

..and collectively pull the leaves together.

This is when the weaver ants really live up to their name.

They carry ant larvae to the edge of the leaves,

where the larvae produce fine gossamers of silk

from their silk glands.

The workers then maneuver the larvae back and forth.

They position the larvae's heads next to the leaves.

As the larvae produce the silk,

it adheres to the leaf surfaces.

It's a living loom.

The result is a perfectly-camouflaged

new field garrison from which the ants send out

their territory patrols and hunting parties.

Teamwork isn't just for hunting and building.

These ants are transporting

one of their huge pupating queens.

Their nest has been disturbed

and they're moving her to a safe house

while they make repairs.

When she's fully grown, she'll develop wings.

Her job will be to fly to a new area

and found a fresh colony.

She's around four times their size...

..but together, they make light work.

(Insects buzzing)

The weaver ant isn't the only hunter in the canopy.

Spread between the trees, a giant, sprawling web

holds the remains of insects large and small.

It's been created by tent spiders.

They're common in tropical Asia and Australia.

Each spider, the width of a man's hand,

has created a dense web around one-and-a-half feet across.

Like the weaver ants,

they too benefit from their joint labors.

Unusually for arachnids,

tent spiders live in colonies.

They set up their webs close to each other.

So even though a single web is relatively small,

together, the webs can cover entire sections of canopy.

And the neighborly spiders maximize their catch.

(Wings buzzing)

Hatching insects usually fly straight upwards

as they emerge.

Anything passing close enough

can get caught up in the communal web,

even small birds.

Vibrations run through the web,

triggering the closest spider to move in

and inject its venom into the victim.

Incapacitated,

the prey becomes easier to wrap up in the spider's silk.

In no time at all, it's totally helpless.

Anything the spider can't eat now

will keep nicely until later.

These webs will stay in place

until strong winds or heavy rain destroy them.

The tent spiders then simply rebuild together.

Down on the forest floor,

this cricket is about to enter

the lair of one of Australia's most terrifying predators.

The Eastern tarantula.

She's one of the biggest spiders in the country.

Up to six inches across.

Her venom is powerful enough to kill a dog.

This spider lives on the ground

in the drier areas of the forest.

She's excavated a burrow around three feet deep.

Alone, she waits just inside the burrow entrance.

The tarantula is an ambush predator.

This spider relies more on touch than sight.

As she patiently waits,

the cricket passes near her burrow.

Its movements are producing telltale vibrations.

It's all over in seconds.

(Crunching)

With the tarantula around,

the forest floor is never a safe place

for potential prey, like crickets.

But the trees aren't safe either.

The huntsman spider doesn't build a web to trap prey.

It hunts its victims down.

It's well-camouflaged to blend into the tree...

..and has amazing speed.

The cricket is history.

No animal is free from danger in the forest.

From the biggest... to the smallest.

This St Andrew's Cross spider is spinning her web.

She's only found in Australia

and lives in the margins of the rainforest.

With long legs but a small body,

she waits for prey upside-down on her web.

Her legs are arranged in pairs,

resembling a diagonal cross.

(Buzzing)

She makes a catch.

Before the fly has a chance to escape,

she wraps it up into an immobilized, neat package.

These food parcels can be left for later...

..but not today.

She regurgitates her stomach fluids

full of enzymes onto the prey.

This, combined with the chewing action

of her fangs and jaws,

reduces the prey to a biological soup.

She sucks it up through her tube-like mouthparts.

A male cross spider, much smaller,

approaches her for mating.

She's not interested.

A second male tries his luck.

This one's got her attention...

..but not quite as he intended.

This species of spider practices sexual cannibalism.

Only the fittest males can court, mate

and then evade the female.

This pursuer becomes dinner.

But someone else has been eagerly following this drama.

In the jungle, there's always another creature

capable of turning a predator into prey.

The Portia spider.

It's smaller than the St Andrews Cross...

..but size isn't everything.

The Portia is an astonishing arachnid.

It has very large anterior eyes.

They're unique.

No other spider is known to see as well as the Portia.

And that's not all.

Researchers are discovering that this species has

a comparatively larger brain than any other spider.

It can alter its predatory strategy,

employing trial-and-error testing.

It will purposefully take indirect routes to its prey.

These behaviors suggest problem-solving intelligence.

It's possible the Portia can plan.

It begins to make its move.

Sensing the proximity of a predator,

the St Andrews Cross tries to discourage an attack.

It's called trampolining.

She's trying to make herself a difficult target.

But the Portia spider,

as well as having extraordinary eyesight

and high intelligence, has an extra weapon.

A lightning-fast, super-accurate jump.

Fangs inject powerful venom.

Soon, the St Andrews Cross will be completely immobile.

Ready for dispatch.

(Birdsong)

Australia's bugs and butterflies have adopted

some extraordinary survival strategies.

From ants that use larvae as glue-guns...

..to spiders that disguise themselves as ants.

The forests of Australia are packed with

an astonishing variety of creepy-crawlies.

Aerial show-offs,

masters of disguise

and extravagant dressers.

There's nothing they won't do

in the great battle for life.

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