no other animal has such a grasp of deceptive behavior as this one [Music] preying mantises wolves in sheep's clothing the most feared predators in the insect world [Music] the Kaiser stool quite literally a hot spot one of the warmest regions in Germany the sun-drenched slopes are the ideal growing location for many a fine wine the kaiser stool is particularly well known for its Groberg unda 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 praying 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 [Music] this excruciating procedure can take hours finally the deadly weapons are cleaned again ready for the next time [Music] the volcanic hills are covered to a large extent with a layer of loose 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 locust family and is a distant relative of the mantises as a vegetarian it doesn't need raptorial for lengths 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 [Music] [Music] 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 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 friends fatal embrace [Music] she only has eyes for the potential prey [Music] but the grasshopper only slightly smaller than its attacker does not relent [Music] 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 kaiser stool 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 a hundred metres away [Music] they excavate their burrows in colonies by using their feet and beaks to tunnel into the softer 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 now that the nursery is ready it's time to start raising a family this localized island of warmth in the southwest 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 southwest and around Berlin Chernabog 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 [Music] the hunter now takes a little longer to dry off and prepare for the day
ahead [Music] [Music] before he sets off on the hunt he has to clean his weapons of course long summers are ideal for ripening the succulent fruit for which the kaiser stool is also renowned alongside its wines this fact is well known to the edible dormouse [Music] 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 while the Dormouse is preparing
for the winter the mantises are busy starting a family they're not fully grown and sexually mature until the beginning of August the coloring is not a matter of sex both sexes may appear in shades of green or brown for the male's mating is anything but safer sex the male is frequently devoured by the larger female after mating [Music] only a few days later the female lays her eggs on plants or in an oauth iike [Music] as many as 200 eggs can be concealed in such a nest the female fashions it from a frothy protein based
secretion produced by the sexual vent within a short time this frothy secretion becomes hard and protects the eggs after laying her eggs the adult dies the eggs on the other hand will survive the autumn and winter months in their frothy nest 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 [Music] the Mara River that flows through Kenya and Tanzania is the lifeline of that region [Music] [Applause] and nowhere else can lions choose from such a well-stocked table and developed so well [Music] 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 [Music] 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 [Music] 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 but like the king of the savanna it's not always successful
[Music] banded mongooses would no doubt be quite happy to feast on a five centimeter 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 his old skin well it managed that all right and soon after the hunter is on the lookout for its next victim sometimes successful [Music] sometimes not but the next opportunity will no doubt arise soon in the Mara region flies are in plentiful supply and there
the ghost mantis his favorite 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 [Music] 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 locust for several days even as much as a week otherwise it could not survive here in the desert [Music] 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 fanger 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 [Music] items can get caught up in those Barb's very easily so they need constant care and cleaning is this the head or is it here the simple feelers show that this is a female males have feathery ones all six legs
have appendages that look like leaves and the rear end looks like the front end for ours this living leaf sways in the wind intend to only undeceiving the surrounding wildlife it's camouflage is so realistic that its prey settles here completely unsuspectingly [Music] but the impression that lunch is just flying straight into the mantises 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 hunters life this is how nature guarantees
the continued survival of the potential prey [Music] it's only rarely that the catch is successful without the Mantis unfolding its weapons [Music] this fly did indeed put itself in a highly convenient position as a titbit the mantises day is saved [Music] fangore National Park is also famous for its numerous orchids and their 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 [Music] 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 afforded all-round vision that misses nothing the Asian jungle is a home to many varied hunters in all shapes and colors this is the largest and most feared of all the giant Asian mantis at
7 centimeters the male is quite an impressive sight but the female manages as much as 10 centimeters nothing is safe from this killer the male definitely can't afford to put a foot wrong [Music] no escape the suitor is decapitated before he could even fulfill 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 3 centimeters long a male walking flower mantis this is one of the smallest mantises and felt
by many to be the most beautiful it not only imitates the colors and shape of the orchid blooms it also mimics the way they sway in the wind [Music] since its 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 it's cleaning instinct is so powerful that it nearly misses the next opportunity a massive blue bottle for such a dainty hunter but the power in its
forelegs is tremendous [Music] 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 enemy's fire ants their strength is their collective strategy although they're just six millimeters 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 paralyzing venom and one fire hand is never alone within minutes the Mantis is surrounded [Music] the giant mantis that itself is merciless in its attacks has no chance against the overwhelming mass of a hands 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 defense [Music] 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's stupefied with pain believes it can still shake off its attacker now the giant mantis switches over from being
the hunted to the hunter [Music] 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 [Music] you
