Life in the Undergrowth
Life in the Undergrowth is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 23 November 2005.
A study of the evolution and habits of invertebrates, it was the fifth of Attenborough's specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth. Each of the five 50-minute episodes looks at a group of the creatures using innovative photographic techniques.
The series was produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in conjunction with Animal Planet and The Open University. The executive producer was Mike Gunton, the series producer Mike Salisbury, and the music was composed by Ben Salisbury and David Poore. The Chief Scientific Consultant was Dr. George McGavin.
Background
Invertebrates had been largely ignored by filmmakers in the past, due to the difficulties in filming them, but advances in lens and camera technology gave the makers an opportunity to film the creatures at their level. The series features a balance of everyday European invertebrates such as the wolf spider and housefly and more exotic varieties such as the redback spider of Australia and venomous centipedes of the Amazon. This was the first time that such animals had been photographed at such a high level of detail for television, and provided not only casual viewers but also scientists with a new understanding of certain species' behaviour.Production of the series took around two years, during which time filming took place around the world, from the Amazonian rainforest to Costa Rica, Australia, Malaysia, Hungary, Switzerland and many more locations, including the United Kingdom.
To follow and understand the various species looked at throughout the series, the production team consulted with some of the foremost experts on invertebrate life. In certain instances, their help proved invaluable, particularly when coming across particularly dangerous species or societies. In other instances, the specialists helped to provide some of their most recent discoveries, enabling the makers to showcase in rich detail the complex processes through which invertebrates may interact with their environment, as well as the regular processes of all animals in the wild, such as their mating rituals and hunt for food. Many of the creatures' interactions were not only filmed for the first time, but were also recorded with such extraordinary magnification that scientists who studied them were able to answer specific questions that observance with the naked eye had hitherto rendered impossible.
As always, time and money constraints played a huge part. The filming schedules had to be arranged to fit in with expected dates of major events that were planned to be included, such as the emergence of the North American cicadas or the mass emergence of mayfly in Hungary. As is usual in the preparation of a nature documentary, not everything went to plan, due to the unpredictable nature of the subject matter.
Although filming took place over several years, time constraints still meant that some scenes almost weren't filmed, and a few never materialised at all. For instance, the simultaneous mass emergence of the mayfly in Hungary did not occur until the deadline day for its filming, as David Attenborough had to be in Switzerland the very next day to film the mating of wood ants. Using expert advice, the team had come to film at the time of the annual emergence, but the problem of the unusually wet spring had delayed the event. Luckily, on the very last day conditions were perfect, and the mayfly emerged – apparently in one of the more impressive manifestations of recent times. Because of these kinds of occurrences being largely dependent on environmental factors such as temperature or moisture, it was nearly impossible to tell exactly when they would happen. Instead the producers had to rely on expert estimates, but even these could be completely unpredictable. So although the mayfly appearance was captured, others were missed, such as the advent of a type of moth in Arizona.
Sometimes subjects were so small that it would have been impossible to film them in the wild. Instead, the construction of a complete habitat in a studio allowed easy pursuit of their actions, allowing the camera to capture them throughout their day. This technique was used on the wolf spider, for example, which provided some 200 hours of film – notably including its courting ritual. Despite the arm span of the grown spider being no more than 1 cm, even the newborn arachnids are shown in tight close-up as they climb on to their mother's back.
Filming also involved entering rough environments. To film the giant centipede, a team had to endure a dark cave whose floor was covered with guano, beetles and cockroaches.
DVD and book
The series is available in the UK for Regions 2 and 4 as a 2-disc DVD and as part of The Life Collection. Its special features comprise an interview with the series producer, Mike Salisbury, and the original score.The accompanying 320-page book, Life in the Undergrowth by David Attenborough, was published by BBC Books on 10 October 2005.
Viewer's guide
In 2008, the BBC made available online a viewer's guide to Life in the Undergrowth, specially designed to help the viewer locate an exciting clip of a particular scientific or geographical lesson.| Topic | Subtopic | Species | Episode | Description |
| Adaptation | Feeding Strategies | Moth, hummingbird hawk moth | 2 - Taking to the Air | How different moths feed on tree sap and nectar, including the hummingbird hawk moth. |
| Behaviour | Camouflage | Stick insect | 4 - Intimate Relations | Features a stick insect that, through camouflage, looks like a dried leaf. |
| Behaviour | Social Groups | Bee, wasp | 5 - Super Societies | Colonial breeding and organisation of super societies in bees and wasps. |
| Communication | Pheromones | Alcon butterfly | 4 - Intimate Relations | Alcon butterfly caterpillars using pheromones to disguise themselves as ant larvae to hide in ant nests. |
| Competition | Animals | Harvester ant, Long legged ant | 5 - Super Societies | Competition for seeds between harvester ants and long legged ants. |
| Cooperation | Cooperation | Army ant | 5 - Super Societies | Features a million or more army ants cooperating in hunting and nesting. |
| Decomposers | Decomposers | Earthworm, giant Gippsland earthworm | 1 - Invasion of the Land | Features the earthworm and its importance for the soil, and six feet long giant gippsland earthworm. |
| Evolution | Invertebrates | 1 - Invasion of the Land | Evolution of land invertebrates, how they have adapted to survive out of water, and their relationship with green plants. | |
| Habitats | Deserts | Scorpion | 1 - Invasion of the Land | Features a typical desert landscape and explains how scorpions are able to survive in this dry, hostile environment. |
| Habitats | Ponds | Diving beetle, fairy wasp, water flea | 4 - Intimate Relations | Features a variety of pond creatures including diving beetles, fairy wasps and water fleas. |
| Habitats | Gardens | Aphid, ant, ladybird | 4 - Intimate Relations | Features the friend and foe relationships between gardeners, aphids, ants and ladybirds. |
| Locomotion | Flight | Dragonfly | 2 - Taking to the Air | Explains the mechanics of how dragonflies fly, showing their amazing speed and manoeuvrability. |
| Locomotion | Flight | Bumblebee, fly | 2 - Taking to the Air | Wing design and flight mechanics of bumblebees and flies. Immaculate aerial control makes a male more attractive to females in hover flies. |
| Parasites | Parasites | Wasp, cabbage white butterfly | 2 - Taking to the Air | Wasp parasitising cabbage white butterfly caterpillars. |
| Parasites | Parasites | Blister beetle, digger bee | 4 - Intimate Relations | Deception by blister beetle larvae in order to parasitise digger bee nests. |
| Parasites | Parasites | Bot fly | 4 - Intimate Relations | Bot fly life cycle which includes parasitising house flies and cows. |
| Predation | Invertebrates | Velvet worm, giant centipede | 1 - Invasion of the Land | Features some of the most vicious invertebrate hunters: the velvet worm catching its prey by shooting strings of glue and the giant centipede hunting bats in caves. |
| Predation | Invertebrates | Glowworm, mayfly | 3 - The Silk Spinners | Dramatic spectacle of glowworms catching mayflies in a New Zealand cave. |
| Predation | Invertebrates | Bolas spider | 3 - The Silk Spinners | Bolas spider using droplet pheromone as bait to lure moths. |
| Predation | Invertebrates | White crab spider, assassin bug | 4 - Intimate Relations | Features white crab spiders and assassin bugs using pheromones to lure their prey into their claws. |
| Reproduction | Courtship | Spring tail | 1 - Invasion of the Land | The headbutting courtship dance of tiny spring tails. |
| Reproduction | Courtship | Mojave sand scorpion | 1 - Invasion of the Land | The Mojave sand scorpion's dangerous courtship ritual. |
| Reproduction | Hermaphrodites | Leopard slug | 1 - Invasion of the Land | Features the unusual mating behaviour of leopard slugs which have both male and female organs. |
| Reproduction | Parental Care | Paper wasp | 5 - Super Societies | Shows how paper wasps build colonial nests and share parental duties which enables them to raise more young. |
| Reproduction | Invertebrates | Wolf spider | 3 - The Silk Spinners | Courtship, mating, egg laying and parental care in wolf spiders. |
| Reproduction | Invertebrates | Cabbage white butterfly | 2 - Taking to the Air | Life cycle of the cabbage white butterfly. |
| Reproduction | Invertebrates | Paper wasp, bumblebee | 5 - Super Societies | Colonial breeding strategies of paper wasps and bumblebees. |
| Shelters | Shelters | Termite | 5 - Super Societies | Features termites constructing a gigantic mound which is equipped with protective features. |
| Symbiosis | Plants and insects | Duroia tree | 4 - Intimate Relations | How ants depend on the Duroia tree for a nesting site, and in return protect the tree from plant predators and competing plants. |
| Symbiosis | Plants and insects | Ant, aphid | 4 - Intimate Relations | How ants protect aphids from predation by ladybirds, and in return get a meal of sugary nectar. |
| Children's favourites | Mini beasts | 1 - Invasion of the Land | Features a montage of mini beasts at very close quarters. | |
| Children's favourites | Mini beasts | Snail | 1 - Invasion of the Land | Features a snail thriving in dark, damp conditions. |
| Children's favourites | Mini beasts | Spider | 3 - The Silk Spinners | Features a spider skilfully constructing its web. |
| Learning to learn | Teamwork | Bee | 5 - Super Societies | Features bees working together to help make their colonies a success. |
| Learning to learn | Teamwork | Army ant | 5 - Super Societies | Features a million or more army ants working together to establish a new nesting site. |