Insect

VHS cover

*Insect* is the eighth episode of the first season of Eyewitness. The topic is about insects, their diversity of forms and lifestyles and their relationship with humans. The episode first aired on 26th September 1994.

*Insect* is based on a book that was first published in 1990, and has been republished on several occasions including in 2000, 2018 and 2023.

## Episode

### Introductory sequence

A spiny flower mantis crawls along from left-to-right, with a large shadow thrown up behind it. It then cuts to a close-up of the mantis’ head. It suddenly turns to look at the camera before the screen fades to white.

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Insect.

The episode opens by introducing the insects as the most successful group of animals in the history of the world, occurring in more variety than any other animal group and adapting to every environment on Earth.

Human reactions to insects are as varied as insect life itself, with us liking some and despising others. The scarab beetle was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians.

What is an insect? Despite their diversity, they all have three things in common. They all have bodies divided into three parts, they all lack backbones and they all have six legs. Instead of an internal skeleton, insects have an exoskeleton. This limits their size, as their breathing systems would not be able to handle growing enormous. The goliath beetle is one of the world’s largest insects.

Insects began at least 300,000,000 years ago. Some early insects were large, and many fossils show modern insects evolved early on. By the time humans appeared, insects already dominated the planet and insects were ready to move in with us. While we may see insects as a nuisance, they are vital as pollinators. Some insects damage plants, and so we have waged a war with crop-damaging pests.

Insects can compete so successfully with us because they reproduce prodigiously. Some can breed asexually, but most reproduce sexually. Some insects go through complete metamorphosis, where larva hatch looking nothing like their parents before turning into a pupa and developing into an adult.

The wing is one of the most profound adaptations of the insects. It helps them to travel and escape predators. Insects can have four wings, link those wings into two flying surfaces or have two wings. Insects can often be subject to superstitions, such as deathwatch beetles, death’s-head hawkmoths and butterflies. Dragonflies lay their eggs in water and the larvae grow through incomplete metamorphosis, where the larva progressively looks more like the adult as it grows.

Dragon and damselfly larvae live underwater with a range of other invertebrates such as water beetles, water boatmen and pond skaters. The dragonfly larva is only a temporary resident that leaves the water and moults into a winged adult.

Dragonflies have compound eyes which give a blurred image compared to what we can see. Bees can see ultraviolet light that is reflected from flowers and follow these signs to nectar and pollen. Insects may see the world a lot faster than we can, which is why it is so hard to swat a fly.

The next section looks at insect communication. Crickets produce sounds to court females. Other insects use pheromones to communicate, such as moths, tent caterpillars and ants.

Insect defences are explored in detail. These include chemical sprays produced by ants and bombardier beetles, the jaws of stag beetles, the armour of the *Hemisphaerota* beetle and camouflage used by caterpillars, adult butterflies and moths and stick insects. While the red dye from the cochineal beetle is used to colour foods that appeal to us, bright colours are used as warning by insects such as ladybirds and wasps. Bees showcase our paradoxical relationship with insects, for they can sting but also give us honey. Bees produce honey to feed their grubs.

The next section looks at insect feeding habits. Caterpillars are voracious feeders of leaves, while butterflies and assassin bugs have mouthparts specialised for their needs. Some insects spread diseases when they feed, such as tsetse flies and fleas.

While we fear insects, they are more likely to destroy plant life than human life. Leaf-cutting ants gathering plants for their fungus gardens links in to an exploration of social insects. These skilled architects include weaver ants, paper wasps and termites, which form highly complex societies and build impressive nests from mud or paper.

Prodigious reproduction is one reason why insects are so successful and also how they can be such pests, such as Colorado beetles, grain weevils and cockroaches. We make pesticides to fight them, but these are not always effective. To good insects do far outweighs any harm they cause. Without them, the world we know could not exist. Perhaps if we made more effort to understand them, we might adapt to give them the respect they deserve.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Spiny flower mantis, *Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii*
* Eastern lubber grasshopper, *Romalea microptera*
* Peruvian firestick, *Oreophoetes peruana*
* Giant Malaysian palm weevil, *Macrochirus praetor*
* Frog-legged leaf beetle, *Sagra buqueti*
* Leaf-cutting ant, *Atta cephalotes*
* Desert locust, *Schistocerca gregaria*
* Urchin beetle, *Prionotheca coronata*
* Brown house cricket, *Acheta domesticus*
* Japanese stag beetle, *Dorcus binodulosus*
* Bluebottle, *Calliphora vomitoria*
* American cockroach, *Periplaneta americana*
* Chilean rose tarantula, *Grammostola rosea*
* Atlas beetle, *Chalcosoma atlas*
* Paper kite butterfly, *Idea leuconoe*
* Stick insect, Phasmatodea
* Sun beetle, *Pachnoda marginata*
* Western honeybee, *Apis mellifera*

### Stock footage

* Mole cricket, Gryllotalpidae
* Great diving beetle, *Dytiscus marginalis*
* Leaf-cutting ant, *Atta cephalotes*
* Paper kite butterfly, *Idea leuconoe*
* Western honeybee, *Apis mellifera*
* Grasshopper, Caelifera
* Colorado potato beetle, *Leptinotarsa decemlineata*
* Sacred scarab beetle, *Scarabaeus sacer*
* Migratory locust, *Locusta migratoria*
* White-tailed bumblebee, *Bombus lucorum*
* Greenfly aphid, *Myzus persicae*
* Eyed ladybird, *Anatis ocellata*
* Emperor dragonfly, *Anax imperator*
* Common housefly, *Musca domestica*
* Asian tiger mosquito, *Aedes albopictus*
* Greylag goose, *Anser anser*
* Deathwatch beetle, *Xestobium rufovillosum*
* Beautiful demoiselle, *Calopteryx virgo*
* Large red damselfly, *Pyrrhosoma nymphula*
* Common backswimmer, *Notonecta glauca*
* Marmalade hoverfly, *Episyrphus balteatus*
* Common pond-skater, *Gerris lacustris*
* Whirligig beetle, *Gyrinus substriatus*
* Common darter dragonfly, *Sympetrum striolatum*
* Tree cricket, Oecanthinae
* Speckled bush cricket, *Leptophyes punctatissima*
* Indian moon moth, *Actias selene*
* Army ant, ‎*Eciton burchellii*
* Red wood ant, *Formica rufa*
* Carrion crow, *Corvus corone*
* Bombardier beetle, *Brachinus sp*.
* Wolf spider, Lycosidae
* Japanese stag beetle, *Dorcus binodulosus*
* Palmetto tortoise beetle, *Hemisphaerota cyanea*
* Indian leaf butterfly, *Kallima inachus*
* Seven-spot ladybird, *Coccinella septempunctata*
* Poplar leaf beetle, *Chrysomela populi*
* Ornate bella moth, *Utetheisa ornatrix*
* Twenty-two spot ladybird, *Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata*
* European hornet, *Vespa crabro*
* Giant owl butterfly, *Caligo memnon*
* Common crow butterfly, *Euploea core*
* Plain tiger butterfly, *Danaus chrysippus*
* Great eggfly butterfly, *Hypolimnas bolina*
* Milkweed assassin bug, *Zelus longipes*
* Tsetse fly, *Glossina sp*.
* Rat flea, *Xenopsylla cheopis*
* Black rat, *Rattus rattus*
* Green weaver ant, *Oecophylla smaragdina*
* Potter wasp, Eumeninae
* African mound-building termite, *Macrotermes sp*.
* Maize beetle, *Prostephanus truncatus*
* Grain weevil, *Sitophilus granarius*
* American cockroach, *Periplaneta americana*
* Leafhopper, Cicadellidae
* Ladybird, Coccinellidae
* Rove beetle, *Paederus sp*.
* Green marsh hawk dragonfly, *Orthetrum sabina*
* Paper wasp, Polistinae
* Peacock butterfly, *Aglais io*

## Stock footage sources

Honeyland (1935) – Bee cartoon

Wildlife on One

* The Water Walkers (1981) – Pond skater, whirligig
* The Transformers (1991) - Metamorphosing dragonfly, Indian leaf butterfly, common crow caterpillar eating

The Natural World

* Secret Weapons (1983) - Hemisphaerota beetle
* Lions of the African Night (1987) - Tree cricket

The First Eden: The Wastes of War (1987) – Rats and fleas

Supersense: Soundsense (1989) - Asian tiger mosquito

The Trials of Life

* Finding Food (1990) – Bumblebee at flower
* Finding the Way (1990) – Tent caterpillars

Lifesense: Human Life (1991) - Butterflies drinking sweat

Killing for a Living: Dressing for Dinner (1993) – Bombardier beetle fighting wolf spider

## Credits

* Producer - Emma Peddie
* Graphics Director - Alisa Robbins
* Writer - Bill Fitzhugh
* Script Supervisor - Brian Meehl
* Camera - Steve Downer, Dominique Grosz and Rod Clarke
	+ Assistant - Andy Shillabeer
* Set Design - Ben Scott
* Production Manager - Peter Thornton
* Production Assistant - Lisa Garvin
* Production Secretaries - Cathy Wilkin and Caroline Elston
* Unit Manager - Grant Dean
* Researcher - Jenna Hall
* Picture Researcher - Martin Willis
* Graphic Design - Kate Boulton and Adrian Woodward
* Editors
	+ Offline - Chris Godden
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles
* Dubbing Editor - Julie Mitchell
* Dubbing Mixer - Andrew Wilson
* Music - Guy Michelmore
* Executive Producer - Michael Bright,
* Special thanks to:
	+ Stratford Butterfly Farm
	+ Bristol Zoo
	+ Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
	+ National Museum of Wales
	+ British Museum (Natural History)
	+ The Mansell Collection
	+ The Spencer Collection, New York Public Library

## Making this programme

To create multi-image sequences for Eyewitness, images come from many different sources. In the video edit suite, the editor chooses and positions a particular insect. The shot is then colour-graded to match the white background and then brought to life. Later in the show, a caveman was brought to life and shared the scene with around twenty cockroaches. Strangely, only nineteen made it back into the box. The team set up a picnic with lettuce sandwiches for the leaf-cutting ants. A combination of morphing and 3D animation was used to make the car turn into a beetle. After a couple of attempts, the effect was complete. It took three days to execute and in the final show lasts about four seconds.

## Home media releases

As well as being released on VHS, Insect was also released as part of the DVD release in the USA.

Insect America-release DVD cover

**Writing staff**: Anne MacLeod • Ben Southwell • Ben Steiner • Brian Meehl • David Hanson • David Stafford • David Helton • George Bloom • Lynette Singer • Mike Tomlinson • Paul Thomas • Stan Cullimore
**Directors**: Gavin Maxwell • Justine Kershaw • David Hutt • Andrew Jackson • Justin Hardy • Ludo Graham • Jerry Foulkes • Derek Hall • Sanjida O'Connell • Caius Julyan • Bonni Cohen • Leanne Pooley • Edwina Vardey • Alexandra Beazley • Sam Hodgkin • Karen Walsh • Jack Weber • Richard Simkin • Alex Hearle • Brian Cummins • Ben Southwell
**Composers**: Guy Michelmore (season one) • Guy Dagul (seasons two and three)

**Season One**: Cat • Fish • Horse • Dog • Jungle • Bird • Amphibian • **Insect** • Shark • Elephant • Reptile • Dinosaur • Skeleton
**Season Two**: Desert • Tree • Ape • Mammal • Butterfly and Moth • Volcano • Rock and Mineral • Seashore • Pond and River • Weather • Arctic and Antarctic • Prehistoric Life • Shell
**Season Three**: Flight • Bear • Sight • Island • Survival • Mountain • Monster • Human Machine - Plant • Ocean • Planets • Life • Natural Disasters