BSkyB - Micro Monsters with David Attenborough (2013) Part 5 Family

Micro Monsters with David Attenborough

Right beneath our feet is a secret world of disguise and espionage, social networking and courtship, rape and pillage, parenthood and relationships. The terrestrial arthropods – the bugs – are the most dominant animals on our planet. They outnumber us in their hundreds of billions and have survived for 500 million years. They have outlived every catastrophe Earth has thrown at them, seen the dinosaurs come and go and even witnessed our own arrival. They are so intrinsic to the natural world that without them we would struggle to exist. Sir David Attenborough will take you deep into the macroscopic world of bugs that deeply fascinates him. He will uncover their marvellous adaptability from the primitive evolutionary design of the millipede through to the graceful apex predators that exist today. We will descend into the watery depths to witness aquatic battles, explore intricate spider webs and get closer than ever before to the fangs and claws that create this fascinating world.

Part 5: Family

While most of the series has focused on conflict, this episode is all about co-operation. The suitably named social spiders spin one enormous, 30m web for the whole colony, a queen bee rules her hive with a strict hierarchy and some green ants show great team spirit to help build a nest together. There are no broken societies here. David Attenborough shifts the focus to bugs that prefer cooperation rather than conflict. They include burrowing cockroaches, the suitably named social spiders - which share a 30-metre web.

The Guardian