A Real Bug's Life (2024) s01e02 Episode Script
Welcome to the Jungle
1
♪
♪
[Narrator] You might think
life is simple
for an ant no bigger
than a grain of rice,
or a little peanut-sized bee.
Both just starting out
still safe in their nests.
But now it's time to venture
into the outside world,
and life is about
to get complicated.
♪
♪
Welcome to the jungle,
a bewildering tangle of life.
The rain forests
of Latin America
are home to a third
of all species on Earth.
[squawk]
This place is bug-tropolis.
With thousands of different
kinds of bugs
living on each tree.
The only way to survive
somewhere so crowded
is to find your place,
do your job,
and watch your back.
[chomp]
Now, our two young rookies must
figure out where they fit in.
Turns out, even the smallest,
most insignificant-looking bug
has a huge role to play.
♪
[birds chirping]
♪
Basking in tropical sun
and full of growth,
the canopy is the perfect place
for an eager young orchid bee
to find flowers.
He's fueling up
for a busy first day.
♪
A very special mission
for a very special bee.
[buzzing]
He's a handsome little guy
for sure,
but lady bees are more
interested in how he smells.
So, to attract a mate,
he needs to create a scent
that smells
as sweet as he looks.
[buzzing]
But becoming a master perfumier
takes more than visiting
a few flowers.
♪
There are more interesting
fragrances in the forest.
The trick is finding them.
♪
Good thing orchid bees
can travel 15 miles a day.
In bee terms, that's like
flying from New York to LA.
♪
Only his flight path
won't be so straightforward.
Down on the forest floor,
it's a whole other world.
Only 2% of sunlight
reaches here,
so there's not
much fresh growth.
Not a great start
for the newest recruit
to the leafcutter labor force.
Her only job is to collect
fresh green leaves.
Slim pickings down here.
So, somehow she has
to get way up there.
[bird squawking]
But it's her first day.
Where to begin?
Luckily, a quarter a million
sisters can show her the way.
The trail: nature's most
impressive production line.
A highway leading
right into the canopy.
Signposted all the way
with pheromones.
But to a first-timer,
it's chaos.
[cars rushing by, honking]
Every few inches,
she gets stopped.
[honking]
[siren]
Everyone's telling her
where to go, what to do.
[cars rushing by]
Stay calm.
There's a method
to this madness.
The ants coming in
tell the ants going out
where the best leaves are.
And today's tree
is 300 feet away.
♪
In ant land,
that's a 10-mile commute.
Oh, man.
This could take a while.
[buzzing]
Nothing slow about
this little explorer.
With three extra eyes
sensitive to polarized light,
he can navigate by the sun
even when he can't see it.
♪
Buzzing at 20 miles per hour,
he's searching
for perfume ingredients,
with antennae that can detect a
single molecule on the breeze.
♪
Mmm.
What's that sweet smell
coming from the forest floor?
Oh.
Nothing sweet
about an elephant beetle.
Maybe it's the cocoa pod
he's munching on.
[buzzing]
Mmm, chocolate!
♪
He soaks up the scent
with his fluffy front feet
then squeezes it
into special perfume pouches
on his back legs.
♪
A good start.
Who doesn't like chocolate?
But that's only one ingredient.
He needs to blend
a perfume cocktail.
So this mixologist
better move quick.
Thankfully, he's one of
the best flyers in the forest.
Hold up. A challenger?
[bug] Eee! Ow!
[Narrator] Nah, never mind.
Onwards, mix master!
[buzzing]
There's plenty of scents
to choose from
on the forest floor.
[frog chirping]
Fancy flowers,
funky fungi,
even earthy aromas.
But there's also
danger down here.
The jungle's top predator
is on patrol.
[purring]
No, not these guys.
They're just pussy cats.
[purr]
This forest is haunted
by something far deadlier.
A creature that can kill
30,000 times a day.
♪
And it's not just one of them;
it's a swarm.
Army ants.
Each one is only half an inch,
but when half a million
are on the march
♪
they destroy any bug
in their path.
♪
♪
And once they've
decimated one area
♪
they move on to the next.
♪
The little leafcutter
hasn't met
her carnivorous cousins yet,
but sooner or later,
their paths will cross.
[birds chirping]
[Narrator] Two hours
into her first day,
and she's almost at the tree.
But down here, you're always
at the mercy of the heavens.
♪
♪
[cars honking]
It's gridlock.
[honking, siren]
Debris on the highway can make
traffic 10 times slower.
[cars honking]
She's running late.
But don't worry,
there's a dedicated team
of road workers
for jobs like this.
[jackhammering]
[cars honking]
[jackhammering]
[truck beeping]
♪
Finally, time
for her first ascent.
♪
Getting to the canopy
is like scaling
20 Empire State Buildings.
♪
Just keep following the trail.
Don't mind King Kong,
he's a big softy.
[buzzing]
The bee can home in
on ant pheromones, too.
♪
But they're not pungent enough.
♪
Mmm. Millipede smells
kinda almondy.
On the right track,
but full of cyanide.
♪
Keep trying, though.
The best scents have
the most unlikely sources.
[buzzing]
♪
Once a week, sloths descend
to the ground.
♪
Like all things they do,
it's a slow process.
♪
All that time just to find
a place to--
[pooping]
Hmm.
Could that be?
[buzzing]
Oh, man.
Is he really?
Oh, that's, that's
a little disgusting.
Okay, maybe not the sweetest
thing he'll land on,
but dung is a source
of skatole.
It helps keep a scent
lingering on the air.
Even human perfumiers use it.
And lady bees love it.
Just don't tell her
where it came from.
Well, that's number two
in the bag.
Just one last ingredient
to finish off this fragrance.
[squawking]
Up in the treetops,
there's a fresher breeze.
Finally our little leafcutter
has reached the canopy.
So this is where
the harvest happens.
Everyone's working hard
before the weather turns.
[thunder]
Slicing through leaves
and bouncing their booties
as they go.
It creates rhythmic vibrations
that other ants feel
in their feet.
[chattering]
Like a leafcutter samba,
it gets everyone joining in
where the good leaves are.
[crunching]
[crunching]
[rhythmic chattering]
♪
After that long commute,
she's getting
her groove on, too.
♪
♪
With jaw muscles a quarter
of her body weight
and serrated
syncline mandibles,
even a first-timer
can power through her work.
♪
♪
This is almost too easy.
♪
Rookie error.
Well, that's certainly
a quicker way down.
But this is no place
for a leafcutter
to be lost and alone.
♪
The army ants have
set up camp close by.
A living fortress
made of soldiers.
But they don't rest for long.
With half a million
mouths to feed,
they need to hunt every day.
♪
♪
The leafcutter better find
her sisters quick.
The army is so close.
She can almost smell them.
♪
Wait, that's not army ants.
It's something more familiar.
Faint at first,
getting stronger
the trail!
♪
Back on track.
Close to the nest and still
carrying her precious leaf.
Just one tiny problem:
it's toxic.
[record scratch]
Hold on, you're telling me
the ants can't even
eat these leaves?
After all that effort?
Yep. Seems so.
They have a workaround
that will blow your mind.
Leafcutter ants
are amazing farmers.
♪
They figured out how to turn
toxic leaves into compost.
And they use it to cultivate
a very special fungus.
It only grows
in leafcutter nests,
and it feeds the entire colony.
It's made them the most
successful vegetarians
in the jungle.
♪
But this colony is small
and vulnerable.
It needs to grow bigger.
♪
♪
The queen can lay
25,000 eggs a day.
But more ants need more food.
So, it's up to every
little leafcutter
to keep those leaves coming in.
♪
[birds chirping]
[buzzing]
Our orchid bee
has been busy, too,
searching for that
final ingredient.
Nothing going on down here.
[buzzing]
But an amazing aroma
is coming from above.
♪
♪
Now, that's no ordinary
floral fragrance.
It's a very special
kind of orchid.
Unfortunately,
he's late to the party.
♪
Bucket orchids produce
a rare scent
to attract orchid bees.
And it works.
♪
[buzzing]
So many males here, a little
bee must learn to muscle in.
♪
But most of the good stuff's
been taken.
♪
Gotta reach further.
♪
A bit further
[squeak, splash]
A small slip-up.
But it could lead
to big problems.
[thunder]
Most afternoons,
dark, heavy clouds roll in.
[thunder]
It's called the rain forest
for a reason.
♪
14 feet of the stuff
falls each year.
♪
These downpours are
the life source of the forest.
♪
But from a bug's perspective
♪
it's Armageddon.
♪
[muffled music]
♪
Each drop hits like a bomb.
♪
♪
And rain can be way more
destructive than that.
Bromeliad plants are
designed to catch water.
The biggest can hold
five gallons.
♪
Even when the storm stops
[squeegee squeaking]
a quarter of the rainfall
is still trapped in the canopy.
[creaking]
♪
One branch can only
take so much.
[creaking]
And now the elephant beetle
is flying up to the canopy.
♪
One of the world's
heaviest insects.
♪
Uh-oh.
♪
[creaking]
♪
[gulp]
♪
Falling branches are
a daily hazard here.
But to a bug
♪
it's like your whole world
has come crashing down.
[bird squawking]
[Narrator] The survivors emerge
from the wreckage.
♪
♪
But the little bee is trapped.
Right now, that might be
a good thing.
♪
Maybe just stay put.
♪
♪
The army ants have located
the leafcutter nest.
♪
♪
It's the perfect size;
small enough to invade,
big enough to plunder.
It's eggs they're after.
♪
The leafcutter ants
fight valiantly.
[swords clashing]
But they're outnumbered.
♪
[shouts of battle]
♪
The army has breached
the nursery.
The little leafcutter
can't save the eggs now.
But sensing an alarm signal,
she does something
extraordinary.
Joining the other workers,
she becomes part
of a living shield,
surrounding their queen,
keeping her safe from attack
[swords clashing]
while the invaders
just keep coming.
♪
Once all the eggs
have been taken
♪
finally, the raid is over.
♪
[birds chirping]
It's safe to come out now.
But it's a tight squeeze.
Just what the orchid intended,
so it can stick two pollen sacs
to his back.
[pop]
The orchid needs someone
to carry its pollen
to other flowers.
♪
And there's no better
delivery boy
than this little bee.
♪
On his quest for new scents,
he helps rare plants,
strange mushrooms,
even the biggest trees
to reproduce.
♪
His exploring ways keep the
whole forest growing strong.
♪
Back in the ant nest,
one little leafcutter has made
a huge difference, too.
Her selfless nature
helped save the day,
which saved the queen.
♪
As long as she's alive,
the colony can rebuild.
♪
But only with the help
and dedication
of every little leafcutter.
♪
♪
So, she better
get back to work.
♪
It's easy to overlook
the things little creatures do.
But look closer.
If these two tiny young bugs
can play such vital roles
in the rain forest,
imagine the amazing things
all the others do
to keep this
wonderful world alive.
[birds chirping and squawking]
As for the bee,
well, maybe all his hard work
was worth it after all.
♪
It's time to try out
his signature scent.
The best perfumes are more than
a fragrance; they tell a story.
A tale of an intrepid bee
with the skill to survive
an epic jungle journey.
And all because a lady loves
the scents of adventure.
♪
His very first display
♪
and already he seems
to have an admirer.
♪
Not bad for a newbie.
♪
♪
♪
[Narrator] You might think
life is simple
for an ant no bigger
than a grain of rice,
or a little peanut-sized bee.
Both just starting out
still safe in their nests.
But now it's time to venture
into the outside world,
and life is about
to get complicated.
♪
♪
Welcome to the jungle,
a bewildering tangle of life.
The rain forests
of Latin America
are home to a third
of all species on Earth.
[squawk]
This place is bug-tropolis.
With thousands of different
kinds of bugs
living on each tree.
The only way to survive
somewhere so crowded
is to find your place,
do your job,
and watch your back.
[chomp]
Now, our two young rookies must
figure out where they fit in.
Turns out, even the smallest,
most insignificant-looking bug
has a huge role to play.
♪
[birds chirping]
♪
Basking in tropical sun
and full of growth,
the canopy is the perfect place
for an eager young orchid bee
to find flowers.
He's fueling up
for a busy first day.
♪
A very special mission
for a very special bee.
[buzzing]
He's a handsome little guy
for sure,
but lady bees are more
interested in how he smells.
So, to attract a mate,
he needs to create a scent
that smells
as sweet as he looks.
[buzzing]
But becoming a master perfumier
takes more than visiting
a few flowers.
♪
There are more interesting
fragrances in the forest.
The trick is finding them.
♪
Good thing orchid bees
can travel 15 miles a day.
In bee terms, that's like
flying from New York to LA.
♪
Only his flight path
won't be so straightforward.
Down on the forest floor,
it's a whole other world.
Only 2% of sunlight
reaches here,
so there's not
much fresh growth.
Not a great start
for the newest recruit
to the leafcutter labor force.
Her only job is to collect
fresh green leaves.
Slim pickings down here.
So, somehow she has
to get way up there.
[bird squawking]
But it's her first day.
Where to begin?
Luckily, a quarter a million
sisters can show her the way.
The trail: nature's most
impressive production line.
A highway leading
right into the canopy.
Signposted all the way
with pheromones.
But to a first-timer,
it's chaos.
[cars rushing by, honking]
Every few inches,
she gets stopped.
[honking]
[siren]
Everyone's telling her
where to go, what to do.
[cars rushing by]
Stay calm.
There's a method
to this madness.
The ants coming in
tell the ants going out
where the best leaves are.
And today's tree
is 300 feet away.
♪
In ant land,
that's a 10-mile commute.
Oh, man.
This could take a while.
[buzzing]
Nothing slow about
this little explorer.
With three extra eyes
sensitive to polarized light,
he can navigate by the sun
even when he can't see it.
♪
Buzzing at 20 miles per hour,
he's searching
for perfume ingredients,
with antennae that can detect a
single molecule on the breeze.
♪
Mmm.
What's that sweet smell
coming from the forest floor?
Oh.
Nothing sweet
about an elephant beetle.
Maybe it's the cocoa pod
he's munching on.
[buzzing]
Mmm, chocolate!
♪
He soaks up the scent
with his fluffy front feet
then squeezes it
into special perfume pouches
on his back legs.
♪
A good start.
Who doesn't like chocolate?
But that's only one ingredient.
He needs to blend
a perfume cocktail.
So this mixologist
better move quick.
Thankfully, he's one of
the best flyers in the forest.
Hold up. A challenger?
[bug] Eee! Ow!
[Narrator] Nah, never mind.
Onwards, mix master!
[buzzing]
There's plenty of scents
to choose from
on the forest floor.
[frog chirping]
Fancy flowers,
funky fungi,
even earthy aromas.
But there's also
danger down here.
The jungle's top predator
is on patrol.
[purring]
No, not these guys.
They're just pussy cats.
[purr]
This forest is haunted
by something far deadlier.
A creature that can kill
30,000 times a day.
♪
And it's not just one of them;
it's a swarm.
Army ants.
Each one is only half an inch,
but when half a million
are on the march
♪
they destroy any bug
in their path.
♪
♪
And once they've
decimated one area
♪
they move on to the next.
♪
The little leafcutter
hasn't met
her carnivorous cousins yet,
but sooner or later,
their paths will cross.
[birds chirping]
[Narrator] Two hours
into her first day,
and she's almost at the tree.
But down here, you're always
at the mercy of the heavens.
♪
♪
[cars honking]
It's gridlock.
[honking, siren]
Debris on the highway can make
traffic 10 times slower.
[cars honking]
She's running late.
But don't worry,
there's a dedicated team
of road workers
for jobs like this.
[jackhammering]
[cars honking]
[jackhammering]
[truck beeping]
♪
Finally, time
for her first ascent.
♪
Getting to the canopy
is like scaling
20 Empire State Buildings.
♪
Just keep following the trail.
Don't mind King Kong,
he's a big softy.
[buzzing]
The bee can home in
on ant pheromones, too.
♪
But they're not pungent enough.
♪
Mmm. Millipede smells
kinda almondy.
On the right track,
but full of cyanide.
♪
Keep trying, though.
The best scents have
the most unlikely sources.
[buzzing]
♪
Once a week, sloths descend
to the ground.
♪
Like all things they do,
it's a slow process.
♪
All that time just to find
a place to--
[pooping]
Hmm.
Could that be?
[buzzing]
Oh, man.
Is he really?
Oh, that's, that's
a little disgusting.
Okay, maybe not the sweetest
thing he'll land on,
but dung is a source
of skatole.
It helps keep a scent
lingering on the air.
Even human perfumiers use it.
And lady bees love it.
Just don't tell her
where it came from.
Well, that's number two
in the bag.
Just one last ingredient
to finish off this fragrance.
[squawking]
Up in the treetops,
there's a fresher breeze.
Finally our little leafcutter
has reached the canopy.
So this is where
the harvest happens.
Everyone's working hard
before the weather turns.
[thunder]
Slicing through leaves
and bouncing their booties
as they go.
It creates rhythmic vibrations
that other ants feel
in their feet.
[chattering]
Like a leafcutter samba,
it gets everyone joining in
where the good leaves are.
[crunching]
[crunching]
[rhythmic chattering]
♪
After that long commute,
she's getting
her groove on, too.
♪
♪
With jaw muscles a quarter
of her body weight
and serrated
syncline mandibles,
even a first-timer
can power through her work.
♪
♪
This is almost too easy.
♪
Rookie error.
Well, that's certainly
a quicker way down.
But this is no place
for a leafcutter
to be lost and alone.
♪
The army ants have
set up camp close by.
A living fortress
made of soldiers.
But they don't rest for long.
With half a million
mouths to feed,
they need to hunt every day.
♪
♪
The leafcutter better find
her sisters quick.
The army is so close.
She can almost smell them.
♪
Wait, that's not army ants.
It's something more familiar.
Faint at first,
getting stronger
the trail!
♪
Back on track.
Close to the nest and still
carrying her precious leaf.
Just one tiny problem:
it's toxic.
[record scratch]
Hold on, you're telling me
the ants can't even
eat these leaves?
After all that effort?
Yep. Seems so.
They have a workaround
that will blow your mind.
Leafcutter ants
are amazing farmers.
♪
They figured out how to turn
toxic leaves into compost.
And they use it to cultivate
a very special fungus.
It only grows
in leafcutter nests,
and it feeds the entire colony.
It's made them the most
successful vegetarians
in the jungle.
♪
But this colony is small
and vulnerable.
It needs to grow bigger.
♪
♪
The queen can lay
25,000 eggs a day.
But more ants need more food.
So, it's up to every
little leafcutter
to keep those leaves coming in.
♪
[birds chirping]
[buzzing]
Our orchid bee
has been busy, too,
searching for that
final ingredient.
Nothing going on down here.
[buzzing]
But an amazing aroma
is coming from above.
♪
♪
Now, that's no ordinary
floral fragrance.
It's a very special
kind of orchid.
Unfortunately,
he's late to the party.
♪
Bucket orchids produce
a rare scent
to attract orchid bees.
And it works.
♪
[buzzing]
So many males here, a little
bee must learn to muscle in.
♪
But most of the good stuff's
been taken.
♪
Gotta reach further.
♪
A bit further
[squeak, splash]
A small slip-up.
But it could lead
to big problems.
[thunder]
Most afternoons,
dark, heavy clouds roll in.
[thunder]
It's called the rain forest
for a reason.
♪
14 feet of the stuff
falls each year.
♪
These downpours are
the life source of the forest.
♪
But from a bug's perspective
♪
it's Armageddon.
♪
[muffled music]
♪
Each drop hits like a bomb.
♪
♪
And rain can be way more
destructive than that.
Bromeliad plants are
designed to catch water.
The biggest can hold
five gallons.
♪
Even when the storm stops
[squeegee squeaking]
a quarter of the rainfall
is still trapped in the canopy.
[creaking]
♪
One branch can only
take so much.
[creaking]
And now the elephant beetle
is flying up to the canopy.
♪
One of the world's
heaviest insects.
♪
Uh-oh.
♪
[creaking]
♪
[gulp]
♪
Falling branches are
a daily hazard here.
But to a bug
♪
it's like your whole world
has come crashing down.
[bird squawking]
[Narrator] The survivors emerge
from the wreckage.
♪
♪
But the little bee is trapped.
Right now, that might be
a good thing.
♪
Maybe just stay put.
♪
♪
The army ants have located
the leafcutter nest.
♪
♪
It's the perfect size;
small enough to invade,
big enough to plunder.
It's eggs they're after.
♪
The leafcutter ants
fight valiantly.
[swords clashing]
But they're outnumbered.
♪
[shouts of battle]
♪
The army has breached
the nursery.
The little leafcutter
can't save the eggs now.
But sensing an alarm signal,
she does something
extraordinary.
Joining the other workers,
she becomes part
of a living shield,
surrounding their queen,
keeping her safe from attack
[swords clashing]
while the invaders
just keep coming.
♪
Once all the eggs
have been taken
♪
finally, the raid is over.
♪
[birds chirping]
It's safe to come out now.
But it's a tight squeeze.
Just what the orchid intended,
so it can stick two pollen sacs
to his back.
[pop]
The orchid needs someone
to carry its pollen
to other flowers.
♪
And there's no better
delivery boy
than this little bee.
♪
On his quest for new scents,
he helps rare plants,
strange mushrooms,
even the biggest trees
to reproduce.
♪
His exploring ways keep the
whole forest growing strong.
♪
Back in the ant nest,
one little leafcutter has made
a huge difference, too.
Her selfless nature
helped save the day,
which saved the queen.
♪
As long as she's alive,
the colony can rebuild.
♪
But only with the help
and dedication
of every little leafcutter.
♪
♪
So, she better
get back to work.
♪
It's easy to overlook
the things little creatures do.
But look closer.
If these two tiny young bugs
can play such vital roles
in the rain forest,
imagine the amazing things
all the others do
to keep this
wonderful world alive.
[birds chirping and squawking]
As for the bee,
well, maybe all his hard work
was worth it after all.
♪
It's time to try out
his signature scent.
The best perfumes are more than
a fragrance; they tell a story.
A tale of an intrepid bee
with the skill to survive
an epic jungle journey.
And all because a lady loves
the scents of adventure.
♪
His very first display
♪
and already he seems
to have an admirer.
♪
Not bad for a newbie.
♪