Life of Insects | Attenborough: Life in the Undergrowth | BBC Earth

In this remarkable BBC footage, Sir David Attenborough reveals the world of insects such as ants, stick insects, beetles and digger bees. Subscribe: bit.ly/BBCEarthSub
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Welcome to BBC EARTH! The world is an amazing place full of stories, beauty and natural wonder. Here you'll find 50 years worth of astounding, entertaining, thought-provoking and educational natural history content. Dramatic, rare, and exclusive, nature doesn't get more exciting than this.
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[@mlgwolvesmeep]

these always end on a dark note

[@whoknowswho7494]

Dark note is us, humans honey

[@Mrjmaxted0291]

Life is harsh and revolves around death, sadly. Still beautiful tho.

[@borderlineiq]

Not a honey bee. @@whoknowswho7494

[@GreyWind]

Mrjmaxted0291 Still sad.

[@lmeza1983]

just like every day life...

[@mathmusicminecraft]

"It's only at this early stage in its life that a stick insect actually runs" Honestly same.

[@pickupthelantern6395]

Even the stick part lines up I can say a lanky fella.

[@charlottem.1477]

TotallyMature 😖🤣🤣

[@rexyaxy4314]

the messiah

[@universal_wisdom9381]

I don’t know what’s better.. the narrator that I could literally listen to for 10,000 hours, or the extravagant camera shots that provide the best footage I’ve seen for wildlife EVER. Easy subscribe.

[@that1guysal301]

Both together

[@ingore9021]

Hahah noob

[@meeplol145]

@@ingore9021 wut

[@anyascelticcreations]

David Attenborough, for sure. The camera footage is excelt! But we have been enjoying Sir David's voice since long before cameras were this good. 😊

[@mikemorr100]

How do they get these shots? Seriously! Its amazing

[@bunnieskitties293]

A lot of the time they harvest the insects ahead of time and create the shot in a controlled environment. Sometimes they can find it happening out in nature.

[@Ohfishyfishyfish]

The bees are all actors.

[@anoukdevries8144]

I have studied movies and in nature programs they "cheat" a lot. But they do not cheat by filming it inside a zoo or something like that .. In this and many other clips, they are likely to film several different bees and larvae in nature within a week or two and then they cluster them into a single story. The female who has sex with the invaded male is probably not the same female they filmed in the nest. The larvae born in the beginning are not the same larvae who eats nectar in the end. Everything is just cut together. When it comes to the equipment, they use mini cameras that you place on narrow tubes or metal threads that you can bend and insert.

[@percival23]

Brilliant! ..... and it pains me to see great humor get ignored. Well done.

[@Skorpi00007]

Inside job. One of the insects is paid by the bbc to secretly film

[@zacharykrawczyk3942]

The kind of STDs that when there's no food in the fridge they'll eat your kids

[@davidabraxton6286]

Zachary Krawczyk lol.....

[@KaceKlosed]

Ahh sexually transmitted disease? What you talking Willis? Now I get it - you talking about the beetle larvae toward the end... me understand ze joke now

[@Evil_We_Are]

Hide your kids, hide your wife

[@tom240uksmoker6]

EvilWeAre he's climbing in your windows he's snatching yall people up so you better

[@ShenavianBurns2024]

I was looking for this comment! I couldn't bear to say it!!

[@natashasmyth5795]

We are so lucky as a species to have been blessed with David Attenborough 🙌

[@larryscott3982]

Natasha Duckett That’s Sir David Attenborough, CBE, to you, young lady.

[@Samuelali83]

Natasha Duckett you are very beautiful 😊😘😝

[@Floppa-G]

Natasha Duckett shut up bitch damn

[@AFourEyedGeek]

@@Floppa-G, ahh, another incel.

[@nickthompson1812]

Samuel Alicea really dude

[@Kyle_Schaff]

I was on the side of the bugs thinking they were hitching a ride to flowering plants. Then I find out they're actually a plague for the female bee lol

[@netweed09]

they're never the good ones kill,, destroy them with fireeeeee!1

[@shwetasoni6394]

You are saying correct

[@neighborhoodtroll]

@@netweed09 Humans does the same to this godforsaken rock...we are a plague to this planet! More of like a virus

[@netweed09]

@@neighborhoodtroll That in a way very true: contrary to all this 'evolution' fairytales, we are becoming overall more degenerate and senseless to emotional values just like God stated, and actually much like insects. Despite our ever-increasing technonoligcal fidelity. It's a bit scary

[@purpleemerald5299]

netweed09 *At this point I think we might just create our very own rapture.*

[@jbpjr7817]

The poetry of a Stick Insect laying an egg that looks exactly like a seed was not lost on me. Bravo Nature, Bravo!

[@guillermorojasc]

There is something hypnotic about Sir David's voice that makes me enjoy every program or documentary that he makes.

[@drparks1061]

"And while he mates, his passengers jump ship." Isn't that how it always goes?

[@TruckTaxiMoveIt]

When done he's lighter inside and out

[@solomonbarnes4629]

This stuff never gets old. He has the perfect voice.

[@majestyofnature2965]

You feel sorry for that hardworking bee. Nature is not always that friendly, nevertheless it's amazing to watch!

[@vice.nor.virtue]

Often nature is downright awful. Did you know there could be as many as 500,000 (!) species of parasitic wasps? Nature is gnarly.

[@catsndogs98]

Nightmare STDs man...

[@Canad1anMan]

These STIs are 1/20th maybe 1/30th your body size... Those are some massive parasites, or just simply unfriendly hitch-hikers!

[@badendhappy2903]

It's like getting crabs the size of literal crabs.

[@Snyde91]

'the literal size of crabs' doesn't even make sense considering they come in such a variety of sizes.

[@petersenior5432]

They're absolutely tiny though, aren't they? Not anywhere close to 1/20th for a single individual larvae.

[@ilovegurusahib]

I am stunned by the amount of research Sir David Attenborough has done towards almost every species on this planet. Hats off. Thanks to all the team for such an amazing final piece of video.

[@boxman5381]

@ilovegurusahib Not even close to every species but yeah

[@matthewiles5714]

The camera work in these programmes is excellent. The programme itself is just incredible. Sir David Attenborough is just brilliant.

[@blockbusterstudios3891]

Programmes… ( British people be like )

[@mrc.1575]

@@blockbusterstudios3891 don’t be a damned racist

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

Incredible complexity of the life cycle. *It's like another civilization* where insects have different reality rules on the same planet as us.

[@pippipster6767]

All the animals have different reality rules to us.

[@Shagamaw-100]

That's why it's called an ecosystem because it is a whole complex system of life.

[@cowboy0212]

David Attenborough has to be one of the greatest men in history

[@andreashoppe1969]

Who else is on a David Attenborough-marathon?

[@pippipster6767]

Looks like no one else 😂🤣

[@andreashoppe1969]

@@pippipster6767 They are, they just won't confess! :D

[@ceejayl371]

Me lol

[@netweed09]

No such thing. Because a nature doc wouldn't exist without the Sir =)

[@lolguy776]

and i thought all bees were hive creatures. turns out there are about 750 species of bees that live solitary lives.

[@StarfruitsurfridaHHH]

Crazy, right?

[@natalieeuley1734]

I believe most bees are solitary. Being eusocial is much harder than being independent from a reproductive perspective, even if most individual insects on Earth are part of eusocial colonies

[@Unknown-qy3dx]

Everybody here is talking about the bees and the little bugs... no one appreciate the hard work of the camera man... well, that was a unique and exquisite footage. Thank you again camera man.

[@khabibmcgregor3592]

what do you mean no one? i literally saw a lot of it. we get it you're a special snowflake

[@hi7535]

There's a shitton of people talking about the cameraman.

[@myonline88]

I am so mesmerized by the awesome camera works in this documentary. Always speechless. Attenborough is the master of BBC Earth

[@wip1664]

No one makes a big deal of the invention/discovery of The Camera. 📸. And Film. It was amazing to say the least, and still is. And all the stuff that were "discovered" or "realized" as a result. And especially Image. The only unbiased image that can be captured was a reflection, either on water, or shiny reflective metal. But that Image could not be saved. Seeing is believing. Or believing is seeing. You have to see to believe. Or you have to believe to "see", or "realize".

[@qn._.n]

At last, bug sex has been caught on tape. I'm glad to be a part of this experience.

[@GinaZalner]

This man could talk about the grass growing and it would be absolutely fascinating! I could listen to him all day.

[@AngelSamael]

And i thought human sexually transmitted infections were bad, at least humans ones won't actually eat your babies.

[@JuicedUpLemon]

Angel Samael Gonorrhea can make a woman barren.

[@FaithRox]

steven gilbert Trying to find a downside...

[@Yidenia]

Um they sort of can…they increase the rate of miscarriages and can cause congenital deformities with severe heart and neurologic sequelae. Also chlamydia can cause ectopic pregnancies which not only kill the baby but also kill the mother.

[@Yidenia]

@Karina Peters How? The baby's still dead in the end

[@Dicknballz52]

@Karina Peters The way the bacteria and viruses work is that they literally do eat part of the person. They usually cause dysfunction to cell structures including DNA in their nutrition uptake/life processes then wallah you get symptoms.

[@tinajaquez7778]

Insects are so amazing, I love watching these types of shows. Thanks for uploading 👍👌✌🐜🐝

[@keekeehawke2920]

David, you ste truly an awesome man ! I love the way you silenced yourself when the bird started fussing at you. You certainly know how to vet the most out of every situation with any animals or in insects. Amazing, and I for one adore you and your beautiful interactions with nature.

[@pwareham61]

Attenbourgh is a master storyteller, even the seemingly mundane holds you spellbound, and the stunning camera work is the icing on this glorious cake.

[@NewEnglandViews]

Attenborough... making bugs interesting since the 1950’s ❤️

[@JonBlondell]

These videos are pure art.

[@Forcedminer]

............this is so inte....interes........GAH....why am i so itchy now!?

[@jennifermcnulty8718]

it just happens to people naturally

[@petersenior5432]

As I saw this comment I got itchy

[@charlottem.1477]

Forcedminer It happens every time to me. But I keep watching

[@estebancoria4831]

How can you not love Sir. Attenborough? 💚

[@somanynamesilltrythis0180]

It takes approximately 3yrs for those stick insect eggs to hatch, my next thought was thanks to the camera crew for their dedication to get these perfect moments recorded for the rest of the world to appreciate.

[@88omair]

5:34 How the hell did they get that shot?

[@charlottem.1477]

Omair Sheikh Camera In the hole, coming out as the 🐝 is

[@erdnadx738]

@Bradley7 Johnson woAH there chill, man this isn't a documentary about ISIS or something

[@lyndaschroeder8117]

Absolutely amazing!!!!

[@justvibin1087]

I used to watch this documentary all the time since I LOVE the undergrowth! David Atten-Bro is the best!

[@fun4u777]

Nothing better than being blazed and watching these

[@ricardoguta290]

Really like your documentary! It's amazing to know that small animals are completely related with us.

[@larryscott3982]

Sir David Attenborough, CBE. The Sir with love.

[@christinedegarmo4714]

I’ll watch anything Sir David Attenborough is involved with. ❣️

[@chorton53]

These videos never cease to amaze me !!! Well done people !

[@mhgscrubadub9917]

Not only do they look just like leaves. They're offspring look like seeds. Truly unbelievable

[@bossmatsymoto]

Классный мужик :) Спасибо тебе за красивые истории для нас о планете и ее обитателях

[@jessemcdonald5124]

Only the best possible footage narratated by a brilliant man with the best voice will do

[@vishalgiri5166]

This guy made my childhood awesome!! Thank you Sir!

[@sleepycobra9152]

Sir Attenborough true legend

[@Najvalsa]

A stick insect that -lays- drops eggs which look like seeds too. Next level evolution.

[@Memorize-Quran-With-Me]

Evolution? Seriously thats what you got from that awesome display of how perfectly God created that system? Dont sell yourself short. Open your eyes.....you actually think the perfectly camouflaged stick insect dropping its egg into an ant hole and having another helpless species raise its baby thinking its a seed all developed by random freak mutations naturally selected over millions of years? Dont oppress yourself with those beliefs!

[@GoldSrc_]

@@Memorize-Quran-With-Me "you actually think the perfectly camouflaged stick insect dropping its egg into an ant hole and having another helpless species raise its baby thinking its a seed all developed by random freak mutations naturally selected over millions of years? " Pretty much, yeah. That's how evolution works, you're only seeing the results of natural selection after it does the clean up to get rid of those who weren't "perfectly camouflaged" enough. That explanation certainly beats "magic man poofed stuff into existence" BS. You know? Since evolution and biology have this stuff called "evidence"? Something your belief can only dream of lol.

[@Memorize-Quran-With-Me]

@@GoldSrc_ yes "evidence" where are all these "not fit enough" species? The world should be filled with their clutter. Yet we see perfect order. Bring the sun a little bit closer or further away from earth....see how we would burn/freeze. There is order created by God. Evidence in front of your eyes pointing to the One who made you and your world. Darwin got shivers just looking at things like a peacock's feather because his heart knew it was evidence of Creation and not possible by chance.

[@GoldSrc_]

@@Memorize-Quran-With-Me Those species who couldn't fit, went extinct. I don't think you even understand what natural selection even is. The Earth gets 5 million km closer to the Sun over the course of a year, in January we are 5 million km closer to the Sun than on July. Plus, the Earth could get as far as Mars and we would be fine; no "freezing". As close as Venus things would get hot, but not close to "burning", as Venus sits in the red area of the habitable zone. You literally have nothing to defend your superstitious belief, nothing. You don't even have a layman understanding of science.

[@Memorize-Quran-With-Me]

@@GoldSrc_ Enough with the snarky attitude. Listen....there is no life on mars or venus. I rest my case about earth's distance from the sun being perfect for life. God created it that way for you to truly accept that we are not by chance but by design and with purpose. Natural selection cannot be your God, because it only hypothetically ELIMINATES bad genes/species, but does not give rise/create anything new. Hence later adherents to the religion of atheism added "mutations" but no mutation makes God's creation better....only worse. There are no examples of positive mutations, all mutations are disadvantageous. Case in point chernobyl. Furthermore, just look at the fossil records, species are the way they are since millenia. No intermediate forms found. Proof is in the pudding. Consider Irreducible Complexity: in a verse of Quran God says He created everything in "pairs" Look at the symbiotic relationship of bees and flowers. Without 1 the other ceases to exist. How can something that is irreducible be the result of natural selection via adaptations? Look at the sophisticated mechanisms within the body of the bombardier beetle. Without the COMPLETE system God placed in its body to defend itself against predators, it would cease to exist and nothing could give rise to it. My advice to you pick up a quran and read it with an open heart. Don't sell yourself short, don't waste your life in this world and the next. Islam is the fastest growing religion on Earth for a reason. Why? Most new converts are women and the highly educated. Why? Michael Hart ranked the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the #1 most influential personality in History. Why? Most likely you know someone who is muslim. Have a chat with them and maybe you will come to understand why and perhaps you too might see that there is no evidence for atheism, only the one true Creator. And to Him we will all return.

[@projectprototype02]

i love programmes like these and david attenborough is the best when it comes to wildlife programmes

[@rebekahlikesmusic2723]

Man I love Sir David Attenborough and his work so much! 💚 beautiful shots too 😍 wow

[@Kerze]

"Oh, and yes, they do eat the bee larvae too."

[@heavymeddle28]

I was scared to death by insects but when i moved to thailand 4 yrs ago the nightmareish thai bugs slowly turned into something fascinating

[@heavymeddle28]

@Karina Peters oh yes... The cockroaches. I don't know if I'll ever be able to like these little monsters 😊

[@shaqthedoc4376]

To navigate this is simply INCREDIBLE.

[@indigneouschupacabra43]

David attenborough is the king of narrators

[@StrawberryCelebi]

The scene at 0:38 is amazing! How was that shot? I can't tell if it was done with a computer or just a camera trick.

[@xsukhrajx]

Taylor Jeanne forced perspective :)

[@Arcsecant]

Ants this size of cats!

[@Ohfishyfishyfish]

David Attenborough is only 5cm tall.

[@aleksandersuur9475]

Perspective is not the problem, what the hell kind of lens do you need to get both the ant and the background in focus at the same time is what I would like to know. And no it's not a composite, they actually took the shot, somehow.

[@thebureaucrat3177]

@@aleksandersuur9475 I believe its not a single frame, but superimposition. As we can do nowadays with multiple cameras to get a 3D perspective, I think this was done with two cameras and then superimposing the slide. Don't ask me the mechanism of it, but it seems plausible.

[@dubstepforce3804]

That voice!

[@evonnesutherland9727]

Thanks BBC nature is simply amazing.

[@samalamichael1]

So much to learn From Dr. DAVID Attenborough.

[@kingkobra1978]

Save whatever is left of this planet

[@saralkoirala1355]

I am a simple man, I see Attenborough I click

[@MrStark-zy6cd]

Just love the footage, greatly shot video, amazing work by the camera man!!!!!

[@universal_wisdom9381]

So amazing how teamwork comes as naturally as breathing for most species of animal.

[@bladerj]

clearly you didnt see the whole video

[@Judexxxxxjjjjj]

How do they film these magnificent videos

[@Razzlion]

The cut through shots are made using ant farms :), a few of them are made by using endoscopic camera's on wild colonies

[@eisrael99]

0

[@leew1598]

Series was released back in 2005. Before then not many documentaries featured insects because the camera technology wasn't good enough to film them, you need cameras with tiny lenses to film on this scale.

[@jakd2962]

Karen smith is Hugh

[@user-em9mw9ch3y]

Scott Lang is the cameraman

[@AlexColberg]

World's deadliest insect - The walking stick of dynamite.

[@RishavKumar-wh2yb]

How wonderfully explained 🥰

[@tejaskulkarni5392]

Biggest reveal in the world This is the man who can make anything interesting with his voice.

[@silverwoodlawn4913]

*"To him, the cluster not only looks like a female, it smells like a female"* Lol! 🤣

[@pronoob249]

Hello world 2020

[@SpectatorAlius]

@@pronoob249 Our eyesight is good, we can tell right away it is not a female bee. A Digger Bee's eyesight must be pretty bad even for among bees, some of which can distinguish shades of ultravioet!

[@paulinadeluca9117]

That's just so crazy how they're born with instructions . HOW THE HELL DO THEY KNOW THIS STUFF?? Did their mother ever even lecture them about this??? Is it in their DNA? So alien...

[@Yor_gamma_ix_bae]

Paulina De Luca funny it’s called a Fixed Action Pattern, as a newborn you had one or two as well! Smiling at faces is one.

[@JerryMetal]

insects can't learn so they have to stick with what their brain has given them at birth, so you're right, it's in their DNA

[@321tiempo3]

@Muhsin OKCU yeah god makes babies eat babies. That's so fun to watch

[@Colstonewall]

Absolutely AMAZING footage.

[@bibhup192]

Thank you Sir David.

[@Something007SC]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DAMMMMM SON the BEE haz crabs

[@cuklabcusade]

dat old subscribe button at the end takes me back

[@clintwolf4495]

Amazing video and knowledge. Thanks.

[@Merocet]

That baby stick insect is ADORABLE.

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

In high school, there was this anti-std poster that had a picture of a bunch of pubic lice and it read "sex with one person can still be group sex".... ....That female bee gets it.

[@reachforskye7356]

This is not what david Attenborough's about duuuude .

[@charlottem.1477]

🤣🤣

[@FeralHydra75]

I could immediately tell this was Australia with the Kookaburras in the background my lord they are loud

Its California and desert wrens

[@ItsJimdevera]

David Attenborough and Rowan Atkinson are two british that i like and i hope never die

[@elizabethmccrary8515]

i just love love love his voice

[@zanelina1]

Damn nature is scary.

[@brandongatica4208]

Damn Nature You Scary😱

[@Hero_04]

I don’t care what anyone says, this man is a National Treasure for his great Narrations

[@parlayphresh3062]

BBC is the 🐐 excellent shots!

[@jonal31]

this just proves that in the end we're all just a-holes who want to mate and eat

[@netweed09]

Those things didn't mate though; they sabotaged the females mating/work

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

an STD - or should I say... an STBee...? I'll see myself out...

[@titussoul64]

fumomo fumosarum 👏🏾👏🏾Ha! Respect is due unto you! I couldn’t stop larfin’ at that gag for ages!

[@chitinskin9860]

the bee isn't sexually transmitted though, so shouldn't that be STBeetle?

[@doctormurray91]

I love these clips!

[@Chid098]

just came for this legends soothing voice

[@poorwipe5804]

im gonna die alone

[@freshapplenews5076]

why

[@aileenmariepoblete2561]

Face reveal?

[@Palmergedd0n]

Everything in this video was EPIC.

[@drgarcha1964]

Awesome Team work . kudos to cameragarphy and Sir Atten . God Bless You aLL.

[@oxoboy9988]

This makes me believe there is a creator everything : )

[@AngelSamael]

What, Sexually transmitted insects that eat your babies? Well it's either a messed up creator or a lazy creator.

[@jez4969]

Your creator gave AIDS to babies, GJ!

[@nurdinimndeme2912]

Allah is the creator

[@alberto1481]

Nurdini Mndeme Allah simply doesn't exist. And never did.

[@netweed09]

Yet you have a Christian name,, silly bouy =D

[@zabidi7164]

How in the world Darwinism works in this case?

[@tcironbear21]

Do you mean evolution? Are you asking how this process is not irreducibly complex? The first beetle larvae could have started out as accidental passengers and evolved to being more active seekers of rides. Or perhaps when the environment was more wet, the larvae actively hunted the bee burrows on their own without tricking them into rides. From there the pheromones might have evolved as a way of inhibiting defense response.

[@turboshaft1959]

Zabidi the larvae that accidentally hitched a ride on a bee were far more likely to reach adulthood and reproduce. Larvae that clustered up on sticks and/ or smelled like female bees were more likely to attract a bee. So these functions were passed on to a much larger amount of offspring that then repeated the process.

[@SumeetKumarHC]

As always I am impressed by the cameraman

[@aprillondon11]

Nature’s so beautiful ❤️

[@davitkarapetyan1974]

Not even one "not my proudest fap" comment ? I'm disappointed.

[@vigneshrb1626]

It's amazing and very mysterious that these insects know exactly what to do when they come out and see the earth for the first time. The power of evolution is tremendous, the nature is very mysterious and we have just scratched the surface. There are still tons of things we have no clue of!!

[@trueapexking2995]

That’s because God created them

[@Lone_Star86]

@@trueapexking2995 So God designed the stick insects to hitch a ride on the mother bee to steal her nectar and also eat her bee babies? Watch the clip before commenting. Some sick twisted god of yours. I think this god if it exists would be some highly advanced intelligent aliens.

[@OutlawGrrl]

Simply amazing....

[@shuyinkim2514]

What a gifted voice

[@earlblacksher1785]

Incredible this video is almost a decade old. I wonder what new species we'll find in 2020

[@elmarumar152]

David Attenborough 🖤

[@panchamayashrestha7675]

Solute for the teams patience for all the scheduled days work ..wow Amazing creations...hallelujah

[@stokewhitenproud]

Every video I watch of his I think is the most amazing thing I've seen, until I watch the next one, then the next one...