Description

Life in the undergrowth DVD 2005 Élet a növények között 1. DVD / BBC Earth / Directed by Directed by Peter Bassett, Mike Salisbury, Bridget Appleby, Stephen Dunleavy / Presented by David Attenborough

Name: Life in the undergrowth DVD 2005 Élet a növények között 1. DVD / BBC Earth / Directed by Directed by Peter Bassett, Mike Salisbury, Bridget Appleby, Stephen Dunleavy / Presented by David Attenborough
SKU: 5996473010606
Price: 19.99 USD
Availability: InStock

UPC 5996473010606 / 5999016370977

MADE IN HUNGARY

REGION 2 PAL DVD

AUDIO: Englishh 2.0, HUNGARIAN 2.0

TOTAL RUNTIME: 149 MINUTES

English Summary:

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 (or aspect) of the creatures using innovative photographic techniques.

The series was produced in conjunction with Animal Planet. 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.

Episodes on Disc / Epizódok a lemezek:

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"Invasion of the Land"	23 November 2005

Original footage includes predation by a velvet worm. The first episode tells how invertebrates became the first creatures of any kind to colonise dry land. Their forerunners were shelled and segmented sea creatures that existed 400 million years ago. Some of them ventured out of the water to lay their eggs in safety, and Attenborough compares those first steps with today's mass spawning of horseshoe crabs off the Atlantic coast of North America. Some animals abandoned the oceans altogether when the land became green with algae, mosses and liverworts. The earliest ground-dwellers were millipedes, which were quickly followed by other species. Springtails are shown to be smaller than the head of a pin and, for their size, can jump immense heights. The velvet worm hunts nocturnally and has scarcely changed over millennia, while the giant centipede (possibly a kind of Scolopendromorpha) can kill instantly and is shown hunting bats in Venezuela. Mating habits are explored, including the unusual ritual of leopard slugs and the meticulous nest maintenance of the harvestman. The arrival of earthworms was of great importance since they changed the nature of the soil, leading to a proliferation of plant life. Despite their aquatic ancestry, many invertebrates, particularly those with no exoskeleton, need a moist environment to keep themselves from drying out. Finally, a creature that has adapted to a desert habitat, the scorpion, is shown as it pursues its dangerous courting dance, followed by the birth of up to fifty individuals.
2	"Taking to the Air"	30 November 2005

A hoverfly in flight The next programme deals with flying insects. It begins in Central Europe, where the Körös River plays host to millions of giant mayflies as they rise from their larval skins to mate. — the climax of their lives. Mayflies and dragonflies were among the first to take to the air about 320 million years ago, and fossils reveal that some were similar in size to a seagull. Damselflies are also looked at in detail. One species, the rare cascade damselfly, inhabits waterfalls, while another, the helicopter damselfly, lives away from water (unlike all the others in its group) and is also the biggest. Several types of butterfly are shown, but all have common habits, and Attenborough describes their physiology. Together with moths, they possess the largest wings, and this surface area gives ample opportunity to display for partners or warn off predators. In cold weather, bumblebees must warm themselves to prepare for flight: they 'disable' their wings, enabling them to exercise their muscles without taking off. The vestigial rear wings of flies and crane flies are used for navigation, and arguably the most accomplished insect aviator is the hoverfly, which makes continuous adjustments while in the air to remain stationary. Beetles that are capable of flight have to keep their wings below covers, and a specimen of the largest, the titan beetle, is shown. Attenborough attempts to entice a male cicada, only to have it land on his ear (causing laughter from the camera team).
3	"The Silk Spinners"	7 December 2005

A wolf spider with young attached to her abdomen

The third instalment examines the spiders and others that produce silk. Attenborough visits New Zealand's Waitomo Caves, which are inhabited by fungus gnats whose illuminated larvae sit atop glistening, beaded filaments to lure their prey. The ability to spin silk developed early in the invertebrates' history, being first used as an adhesive. The female lacewing still applies it in this way, to suspend its eggs from plant stems. Spiders first employed it as a sensitive trip line to detect movement, and Attenborough illustrates this by encouraging a trapdoor spider. The speed with which it appears causes the presenter to jump in surprise. The webs spun by orb-weavers are complex and can comprise up to 60 metres of silk and 3,000 separate attachments. A time-lapse sequence reveals their intricate construction. The largest are made by Nephila and can be several metres across. The venomous redback spins three-dimensionally, and fixes vertical lines that suspend its unlucky meals in mid-air. Meanwhile, a bolas spider swings a length of silk with a sticky blob on the end, with which to snare passing moths. Argiope exemplifies the dangers of mating that are faced by some male spiders: unless they are careful, they can be consumed by the females. The courtship of the wolf spider, though less risky, is one of the more elaborate. Its nesting habits are discussed, along with the eventual birth of its young, which cling to their mother's back.

Hungarian Summary:

A sorozat első DVD-je a növények között élő lények csodálatos képességeit vizsgálja. Egy világ amelyben titkok és meglepetések nyüzsögnek. Vessünk egy pillantást a gerinctelenek bizar, kegyetlen és meglepően gyönyörű világára! Fedezzük fel ezt a sosem látott, mégis állandóan körülöttünk nyüzsgő, káprázatos, apró univerzumot! Nem csak különféle bogarak, hanem egzotikus kabócák, neon fényű férgek, különös selyemfonó pókok és irizáló szitakötők – nem is említve egy csomó más, hihetetlen életformát és titokzatos, meghökkentő viselkedést. Hála a filmes technológiák fejlődésének, ez a kavargó, végletekig szervezett világ végre különleges lakóinak szemszögéből is elénk tárul. A DVD-n található epizódok: A szárazföld meghódítása, Először a levegőben, A selyemszövés mesterei.

Production
Genre	Nature documentary
Directed by	Peter Bassett Mike Salisbury Bridget Appleby Stephen Dunleavy
Presented by	David Attenborough
Composer(s)	David Poore Ben Salisbury
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	5
Executive producer(s)	Mike Gunton
Producer(s)	Mike Salisbury
Running time	50 minutes
Production company(s)	BBC Natural History Unit Animal Planet
Release
Original network	BBC One
Picture format	576i (16:9)
Audio format	Stereophonic
Original release	23 November – 21 December 2005
Chronology
Preceded by	The Life of Mammals
Followed by	Life in Cold Blood