Having sacrificed a snake to obtain its secrets the five adventurers must go through a trial-by-pain to atone for its death. They must scale a tree swarming with fire ants and allow themselves to be bitten. A challenge not for the faint-hearted as the ants have a an acidic venom which can be fatal. BBC adventure series Tough Guy or Chicken? Watch more high quality videos on the new BBC Worldwide YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com
More on this programme: www.bbc.co.uk Dr Rupert Soar and his team have discovered that termites build self-cooling mounds, harnessing the wind to keep the air circulating. Engineers hope that by studying their mounds, which are known to be complex lung-like structures, they can create new buildings which self-cool just like the termite mounds dotted across the landscape in Namibia.
Termites build one of the most sophisticated homes in all animals and insects. Jeez, they have a better cooling system than i do or at least a more environment friendly one. hehe. Extra info on Termites : As eusocial insects, termites live in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals. They are a prime example of decentralised, self-organised systems using swarm intelligence and use this cooperation to exploit food sources and environments that could not be available to any single insect acting alone. A typical colony contains nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both genders, sometimes containing several egg-laying queens. Termites has one of the most complex of house making techniques. It is called a Mound. In tropical savannas the mounds may be very large, with an extreme of 9 metres (30 ft) high in the case of large conical mounds constructed by some Macrotermes species in well-wooded areas in Africa. The sculptured mounds sometimes have elaborate and distinctive forms, such as those of the compass termite (Amitermes meridionalis & A. laurensis) which build tall wedge-shaped mounds with the long axis oriented approximately north-south. This orientation has been experimentally shown to help in thermoregulation. The column of hot air rising in the above ground mounds helps drive air circulation currents inside the subterranean network. The structure of these mounds can be quite complex …
In the humid South American air after a heavy downpour, a spectacular battle between predator ants and flying termite colonies ensues. Brilliant wildlife footage from BBC natural history show ‘Wild South America’.
Sir David Attenborough wonders into the wonderful world of the termites in South Africa to better understand the ways in which these amazing animals ventilate their homes, breed, and fight for survival. Brilliant video from BBC insect and wildlife show ‘Life in the Undergrowth’.
A flood hits a fire ant colony in the Amazon jungle. An amazing chance to see footage on how the species has adapted to water to protect their queen. From the BBC.
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