Animal Anarchists

Perhaps Planet Earth should be called Planet Wetness, since it’s mostly covered in water! This water contains some fascinating creatures.

The stalk-eyed fly blows air bubbles up inside its head and along the eyestalks - like blowing up the world’s weirdest balloon.

The bombardier beetle has evolved a special way to avoid being eaten. It sprays its enemies with a mix of chemicals and boiling water.

For sloths, every day is a bad-hair day. Their matted locks are crawling with life - from parasites to algae to a colony of sloth moths.

Cheese mites are now largely regarded as a pest. But some artisan cheeses still use them, and their earthy flavour is enjoyed by many.

Bat colonies in caves bring a whole world of creatures with them. Snakes and frogs are happy to have bats for dinner.

The queen is head of the ant colony. Honeypot ants sometimes have nests with more than one queen. That can lead to ant wars.

The New Zealand glow worm is the larva of a small fly. The glowing network they spin looks pretty, but it’s really a trap to catch insects.

It’s not always happy families in the wild. Some creatures have very strange parenting skills.

The giant Bornean leech can grow up to half a metre long. It likes eating worms, which it slurps like spaghetti.

The wasp has to burrow underground to find cicadas. It brings the cicada to its burrow to feed its larvae.

Night time in the wild can look peaceful, but around the termite mounds the fluorescent beetle larvae are catching dinner with their light.

Hungry cone snails use their siphons to sniff out their food. They release a venom that knocks their prey out.

The carnivorous caterpillars of Hawaii have evolved to eat flies. They’ve got grabbing arms and sharp jaws.

The elephant yam attracts beetles with its smell. Then it covers them in pollen and sends them off to bring the pollen to other yams.

In the pools of Madagascar, the frog spawn is safe from most predators that can’t fly. The wasp, however, wants tadpoles for dinner.

Mudskipper fish live on land. They can hold water in their gills and by keeping their skin moist they can breathe through it.

The carnivorous pitcher plants have evolved to trap and digest insects, which it lures in with sweet nectar.

Cordyceps fungal spores are capable of controlling and killing insects. They take over the insect’s body and can steer its mind.