Original subtitles

No other animal has such a grasp of deceptive behaviour as this one.

Preying mantises, wolves in sheep's clothing,

the most feared predators in the insect world.

The Kaiserstuhl, quite literally a hotspot, one of the warmest regions in Germany.

The sun-drenched slopes are the ideal growing location for many a fine wine.

The Kaiserstuhl is particularly well known

for its Grauburgunder or Pinot Grigio grapes.

But lurking among these delightfully sweet fruits is a perfidious predator.

Its deceptively devout posture is the source

of its common name, the preying mantis.

It spends hours cleaning its front legs.

These are its chief weapon.

Without them, the mantis would die of starvation.

Its attack takes only a fraction of a second.

Once caught, the victim has not the slightest chance of escape.

The mantis will eat it alive.

This excruciating procedure can take hours.

Finally, the deadly weapons are cleaned again, ready for the next time.

The volcanic hills are covered to a large extent with

a layer of Loess, a soft, fertile sedimentary stone.

This is ideal for growing vines.

Over the centuries, the established access routes have become sunken lanes.

Caves provide valuable shade for the vine growers, since the temperatures on the

steep slopes often exceed 40 degrees centigrade.

The rattle grasshopper, on the other hand, finds the heat very pleasant.

This grasshopper is one of the locus family and is a distant relative of the mantises.

As a vegetarian, it doesn't need raptorial forelegs.

But instead, it has very powerful back legs for jumping.

This attempt at courtship clearly went amiss.

The female has already been mated and is now laying her eggs.

Using its ovipositor, it places small packages of eggs in a number of places.

This reduces the chance that a single predator will find all the eggs.

But other insects' eggs are not good enough for the praying mantis.

It's waiting for something more substantial.

It often hangs head down for hours, which makes it less noticeable.

But that doesn't stop the male detecting this female.

He sneaks up on her very carefully, from behind.

He doesn't want to become her lunch before he has mated with her.

This is the first time the male has detected this female.

The male is now waiting for her.

A great green bush cricket is attracting the female's attention.

And that's to the male's advantage.

This allows him to complete mating, which can take hours, without being

subject to his lady friend's fatal embrace.

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She only has eyes for the potential prey.

But the grasshopper, only slightly smaller than its attacker, does not relent.

It may not have those powerful front legs, but it has razor-like mandibles.

And it wastes no time.

Obviously, not all locusts are vegetarians.

The kaiserstuhl attracts visitors whose habitats are normally further south.

The European bee-eater.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the bee-eater, that had died out in

Germany, began to frequent this area again.

These exotic-looking birds are, as the name suggests, skilled insect hunters.

They can detect a flying insect from up to 100 metres away.

They excavate their burrows in colonies by using their

feet and beaks to tunnel into the soft, loose soil.

A task that takes nearly three weeks.

Now it's time for a spring clean.

Because the birds return, year after year, to the same colony.

Both partners take on the task together.

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Now that the nursery is ready, it's time to start raising a family.

This localised island of warmth in the south-west of Germany attracts a number of

animals that are normally found in the south.

The praying mantis is one of them.

It's more usually found in Mediterranean

countries, in Africa, and extensively in Asia.

In Germany, it's only been able to settle in

the south-west and around Berlin-Schöneberg.

But climate change is encouraging it to spread.

In the Kaiserstuhl region, the summer nights are so

warm that mantises can also be active after sundown.

When the dew falls in the early morning, this is a

sign that midsummer is progressing into late summer.

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The hunter now takes a little longer to dry off and prepare for the day ahead.

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Before he sets off on the hunt, he has to clean his weapons, of course.

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Long summers are ideal for ripening the succulent fruit for

which the Kaiserstuhl is also renowned, alongside its wines.

This fact is well known to the edible Dormouse.

Here, it finds sufficient old fruit trees where

it can make its dens for sleeping and breeding.

Soon, it will withdraw and enter a hibernation

period that will last a good seven to eight months.

But beforehand, it has to build up a good layer of fat.

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While the Dormouse is preparing for the winter,

the Mantises are busy starting a family.

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They're not fully grown and sexually mature until the beginning of August.

Their colouring is not a matter of sex.

Both sexes may appear in shades of green or brown.

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For the males, mating is anything but safer sex.

The male is frequently devoured by the larger female, after mating.

Only a few days later, the female lays her eggs, on plants or in an ootheca.

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As many as 200 eggs can be concealed in such a nest.

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The female fashions it from a frothy, protein-based

secretion produced by the sexual vent.

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Within a short time, this frothy secretion becomes hard and protects the eggs.

After laying her eggs, the adult dies.

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The eggs, on the other hand, will survive the

autumn and winter months in their frothy nest.

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The young mantises emerge in the following spring.

They look very similar to their parents because, in contrast to beetles or

butterflies, they do not pass through a caterpillar or pupil stage.

They do, however, frequently shed their skin until they've reached their full size.

Today, the mantises are well established in the

Kaiserstuhl region, but they originated from Africa.

The Mare River The Mare River that flows through

Kenya and Tanzania is the lifeline of that region.

And nowhere else can lions choose from such a well-stocked table and develop so well.

Lions are the only big cats that form a pride and maintain close social contacts.

A pride of lions usually consists of a number

of related females and their offspring.

As a result, the young cubs will always have playmates around, which allows them

to develop their muscles and fine-tune their reactions.

In Africa's national parks, lions are an

attraction for innumerable visitors every year.

But those visitors are likely to remain completely

unaware of another equally fascinating predator.

Leaving aside a potential comparison of size, who would suspect that hiding under

the guise of this dry leaf, there is in fact

one of the most perfidious predators in Africa?

The struggle between life and death in Africa is not just

between the big cats and their prey, like these impala.

It's also played out on a much smaller scale, out of sight.

The ghost mantis gets ready...

and strikes.

The ghost mantis gets ready... But in the savannah, it's not always successful.

Banded mongooses would no doubt be quite happy to feast on a five-centimetre mantis.

But the mantis is to be found higher up in bushes and shrubs.

It must, however, be careful not to be swallowed up inadvertently by a giraffe.

This one can't flee at the moment.

It's just shedding its old skin.

Well, it managed that all right.

And soon after, the hunter is on the lookout for its next victim.

Sometimes successful...

sometimes not.

But the next opportunity will no doubt arise soon.

In the Mara region, flies are in plentiful supply.

And they're the ghost mantis' favourite meal.

The diversity of the fauna here, with their parasites and dung,

ensures the existence of innumerable flies.

In this way, the largest animals and the smallest insects are

linked to each other in many ways, in an intact ecosystem.

In the southern part of the Sahara, Africa

presents itself in a far less verdant mantle.

Few animals can survive the heat and dryness of the stony desert.

One of them is the Egyptian pygmy mantis.

It may be only half the size of the European praying

mantis, but its hunting skills are just as formidable.

Mantises do not just suck the blood of their victims, they slice them up one

piece at a time with their sharp mandibles.

A mantis will live off a locus for several days, even as much as a week.

Otherwise, it could not survive here in the desert.

There are over 2,400 species of mantises, and

they have conquered many different habitats.

Most of them are at home in the tropics and subtropics.

Some of the most exotic ones are to be found in the mangrove

forests of the Fanga National Park, in the north of Thailand.

The wandering violin mantis.

It only takes a little imagination to see the shape of a violin.

But nature, when designing this hunter, was thinking of dry leaves.

And the mantis adds to the effect by swaying like one.

Its raptorial forelegs have as many as 30 barbs on

the inner side, more than almost any other mantis.

And every single one of these is including the original ones.

Items can get caught up in those barbs very

easily, so they need constant care and cleaning.

Is this the head?

Or is it here?

For hours, this living leaf sways in the wind,

intent only on deceiving the surrounding wildlife.

Its camouflage is so realistic that its

prey settles here completely unsuspectingly.

But the impression that lunch is just flying straight

into the mantis' mouth is actually more problematic.

Mantises can only hold on to their prey if it does not come in too close.

If they can't extend their forelegs, they have no chance.

Near misses are a feature of every hunter's life.

This is how nature guarantees the continued survival of the potential prey.

It's only rarely that the catch is successful

without the mantis unfolding its weapons.

This fly did indeed put itself in a highly convenient position as a titbit.

The mantis' day is saved.

Fanger National Park is also famous for its numerous orchids and they're felt to

be the most beautiful of all in the plant kingdom.

But hiding among them is potential death in

the shape of the Asian jeweled flower mantis.

This too is an accomplished killer.

Well camouflaged, these mantises hide in the blooms and

wait for visitors that are looking to feast on the pollen.

Instead of a sweet meal, they're in for a bitter end.

The eye markings on the wings are to confuse predators.

The inevitable cleaning action after a good meal is simplified by the mantis

being able to turn its head more flexibly than almost any other insect.

This articulated neck and the large stereoscopic

eyes afford it all-round vision that misses nothing.

The Asian jungle is a home to many varied hunters in all shapes and colours.

This is the largest and most feared of all, the giant Asian mantis.

At seven centimetres, the male is quite an impressive sight.

But the female manages as much as ten centimetres.

Nothing is safe.

The male can't get away from this killer.

The male definitely can't afford to put a foot wrong.

No escape.

The suitor is decapitated before he could even fulfil his duty.

Due to their intricate shape, orchid blossoms

are the ideal hide for ambush predators.

It's hardly surprising then that several mantis

species have chosen these as their hunting ground.

This elfin creature is a mere three centimetres long.

A male walking flower mantis.

This is one of the smallest mantis in the world.

This is one of the smallest mantises, and felt by many to be the most beautiful.

It not only imitates the colours and shape of the orchid

blooms, it also mimics the way they sway in the wind.

Since it's feather-light, it can also catapult

itself into the air, increasing its striking range.

Although this is not always as successful as was hoped.

A short time later, it's back in position, waiting.

Too short.

Sometimes one just has a bad day.

Its cleaning instinct is so powerful, that it nearly misses the next opportunity.

A massive bluebottle for such a dainty hunter.

But the power in its forelegs is tremendous.

The Greek word on which its name is based means a prophet, which is hardly

surprising when one considers the large eyes and pious stance.

Mantises have often played mystical roles in many cultures.

They appear to be invincible.

Their strategy appears to be one of the most successful in the insect kingdom.

And yet, they too have their enemies.

Fire ants.

Their strength is their collective strategy.

Although they are just six millimetres long, they

can overpower animals that are many times their size.

They send out scouts to locate a new victim.

Relative to their body mass, the biting power of these tiny

animals is among the most impressive in the animal world.

And on top of that, there's the paralysing venom.

And one fire ant is never alone.

Within minutes, the mantis is surrounded.

The giant mantis, that itself is merciless in its attacks,

has no chance against the overwhelming mass of ants.

Whole armies of ants join the fray, attracted by

the chemical messengers sent out by their fellows.

Reptiles like this dragon lizard also hunt mantises.

But no opponent is as aggressive and effective as the fire ants.

This army of attackers will measure itself against almost any of the larger animals,

even mammals and reptiles.

This giant mantis has, until now, avoided being detected by the army of ants.

But now it's faced with a completely different problem.

Like most mantises, it can hardly fly.

Attack is the best form of defence.

The lizard freezes in shock.

The mantis takes full advantage.

It may not inject any venom like the ants, but its jaws are fearsome weapons.

The lizard, stupefied with pain, believes it can still shake off its attacker.

Now the giant mantis switches over from being the hunted to the hunter.

Anything that moves is fair game.

It sets to work without a moment's delay.

In a few hours, the lizard will be a mere skeleton.

The contrast could hardly be more extreme.

Deadly attacking force coupled with an insatiable appetite.

Cloaked in deception.

The praying mantis.

Femme fatale of the insect world.