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It`s Okay To Be Smart, These Butt-Tickling Ants Are Endangered Butterfly Bodyguards | IN OUR NATURE

These Butt-Tickling Ants Are Endangered Butterfly Bodyguards | IN OUR NATURE

The Serengeti is one of the richest ecosystems on Earth, but surviving out here is not easy.

You've got lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, crocs, and that's just the stuff with sharp

teeth.

You've also got giant elephants, rhinos, buffalo to worry about too.

Hippos, you definitely don't want to run into the hippos.

They kill more people every year than sharks, which is a fact that continues to blow my

mind.

And that's just the big stuff.

There are countless little bugs who just love the opportunity to take a big old belly full

of your blood, or maybe lay a few parasite eggs under your skin.

What's going on?

Just a swarm of Tsetse flies inside the vehicle.

Nothing to worry about.

Surviving out here is hardcore, but it's easier if you don't go it alone.

Today, we're going to look at some stories where species cooperate to help each other

survive.

If you know what you're looking for, you can find these relationships everywhere.

And we're also going to look at what happens when these alliances get a little out of balance.

Teamwork makes the dream work and it's a good way not to die.

You guys know what makes this show work?

Post-production team?

Yeah, I was going to say, producer Amanda?

I'll acknowledge, my jokes are a big part of it guys.

I know, but it's teamwork.

And what makes teamwork work?

I can't just ask you guys to do stuff for me.

I have to do something for you in return.

You scratch my back.

I'll scratch yours.

You know, I'm not really comfortable with scratching

your back, Trace.

Joe, it's an expression.

Cooperation within species, that's one thing, right?

But what about cooperation between species?

Insects, pollinating flowers, and that kind of thing?

Totally.

That's a classic example, right?

The flower gives the insect some pollen or nectar to eat and the insect helps the flower

make baby flowers.

The technical term for this kind of relationship is called a mutualism.

It's sort of any relationship where both species get a benefit.

And if you go looking for these mutualisms and just about any ecosystem on Earth, you

can get some pretty weird examples.

Acacia trees are an iconic site across the African Savannah.

These fractal, river-like branches and broad, wide canopies with all their leaves clustered

up top, as if they're reaching for the sun, you get to know how they get that shape.

The gardener does it.

One of those snippers that you can get at the hardware store, the really big one.

There's just one person doing that all day long.

I want that job.

It's actually because of this: Nature's hedge trimmers.

Acacia trees look like that because that's how high a giraffe can reach.

Those are the only leafs left.

Once you get up close to an Acacia, you're really going to wonder why anything would

go through the trouble of trying to eat it Out here, we're surrounded by Acacias.

And the one thing I've noticed about them is they are covered in thorns, but the giraffes

are still eating on them like it's not a problem.

They just don't care.

Giraffes are so well adapted with that long tongue and they sort of get that tongue through

the thorns and can still get out the leafs.

In the Serengeti, everything is mean.

Some Acacias are a little meaner than others.

It's not a meal I would take, but we have another type of Acacia over here.

It's still covered in thorns.

This one's really interesting.

This is called a whistling thorn, and it's adapted a really interesting relationship

with ants.

So these are little ant houses.

Basically.

You can see them all around.

Ant houses built right into the tree.

This little Acacia grows these nodules, especially when they're young like this and inside of

those nodules live ants, an entire colony of ants in this tree.

You got ants in your plants?

Dad joke, check.

You only have to change one word in a dad joke to make it a bad joke.

One letter even.

Young plants need all the protection they can get out here with all the browsers.

And this is like a super evolution of protection.

This is just swarming with ants, and this would send a very clear signal.

If you're a giraffe trying to munch on this, I have a feeling you'd pick a different plant.

The minute you disturb the plant, all these ants are going to come rushing out.

I mean, the thorns are a big message, but the ants are a double no for me.

So let me make sure I've got this.

You said mutualism requires bolt species to get a benefit.

The plant gets protection from hungry stuff and the ants get a tree house.

Exactly.

And there's even more going on here.

That's incredible.

So the plant gives them a place to live, And in return, it gets protection.

But there's even more because the plant, if you look down there, provides little nodules

that the cream sugar...

It just came in and took a little drop of nectar off the base.

It's incredible.

Not only does this Acacia give the ants a place to live, it actually feeds them too,

in return for protection.

What's really crazy to me is neither of these organisms is conscious that they're in this

mutualistic relationship, the plants, they don't even have brains.

I know, they just evolved this way, adapting and trying to survive and you get this.

It's crazy.

I love natural selection.

You should get that on a T-shirt.

So anything that tries to take a bite, these ants are going to say, "No thanks, not at

our house".

This is a great example of [crosstalk 00:05:47] both getting a benefit.

When there's so many other things, why would you waste your time?

The last thing you'd want is ants on your tongue.

We'll leave him alone.

We're not hungry.

Go about your ant business.

But why is it called a whistling thorn?

Excellent question.

So it turns out, in addition to being an awesome photographer and filmmaker and safari guide,

Jahawi is also a really talented musician too.

The interesting thing is that when you get really good wind coming through here, through

these little nodules, it acts like a whistle.

So all of a sudden the whole tree starts to whistle.

All those little holes that the ants are coming in and out of are like a little flute.

It's creates a flute.

That's why it's called a whistling thorn.

A thorn!

Guys.

Okay.

It wasn't very windy.

I'm sorry.

I don't control the weather, but it is totally true.

I would never lie to my teammates.

So the Serengeti is also home to one of the most iconic and awesome mutualisms in the

animal kingdom.

Those are these birds.

They're called honeyguides.

And I guess their name kind of tells you what they do.

The bird locates a beehive, but it can't get to the honey on account of all the angry bees.

So it calls to the honey badger in however honey badgers and honeyguides communicate,

I don't know.

I don't speak bird.

Come on over.

I got some food.

I'll be right there.

And the honey badger follows the honeyguide over to the hive.

Somehow, both species know that there are these delicious treats at the end of this

trip.

So the honey badger breaks open the hive, eats its fill of delicious honey.

Then the bird comes in, gets its own meal of wax and larva and honey, all because the

honey badger did the hard work.

Sure, the honey badger don't give a you know what, but it can lend a helping hand.

A helping paw.

Classic mutualism.

Each species is getting a benefit.

Okay, I've got one more.

And this one gets at a big unanswered question underlying all of these mutualistic relationships.

You guys ever wonder how a giraffe scratches its neck?

That is your big unanswered question?

Okay.

Actually, no, that is not the question.

But I'm asking this one before I get to the important one.

How do they scratch their neck?

They don't, they actually have these little birds do it for them.

These cute little flappy flaps, flappy flaps?

I don't think we call birds flappy flaps.

Flappy flaps.

I like it.

These cute little feathery friends are called oxpeckers and their name also tells you what

they do, but they don't just live on oxen.

You'll pretty much find them on the backs of any four-legged, plant-eating animal on

the Savannah.

So they sit on the backs of grazing animals, and they eat ticks and worms and even grow

stuff like scabs and ear wax and those little buggers you get in the corner of your eye.

I mean, that happens to animals too.

Yeah.

Fun fact, they actually will roost in the nether regions of giraffes too.

That is a very fun fact.

The oxpecker gets their food and their yummies and the host gets cleaned off and stays healthy.

And sometimes the oxpeckers will even warn their hosts that predators are nearby.

Hey, there's a lion!

But in like, bird speak.

This is an obvious win-win mutualism, right?, Well, it's actually not always that simple.

And this is the big unanswered question.

What keeps these mutualisms going?

Yeah.

I mean, now that you mention it, it seems like it would be pretty easy for one half

of the relationship to become a freeloader.

Right?

Getting a benefit without having to do any other work.

I was thinking the same thing, like if a butterfly decides to get the nectar, but it doesn't

do any pollinating or if the ants, live rent free inside the Acacia, but they stop protecting

the plant from hungry animals somehow.

Right.

Mutualisms require a balance, but it might, sometimes, be easier to cheat.

Actually when scientists study these oxpeckers, they noticed that when there wasn't enough

bugs and worms and nasty stuff to eat.

They would pack new wounds in the backs of their hosts and drink their blood.

What, like vampire birds?

We're talking about Nosferatu?

But there is a way to keep this in balance.

The host never quite lets the oxpecker get comfortable enough to do its job.

They're always swatting and shaking and flicking their ear so the bird never gets totally comfortable

unless it's doing its good grooming behavior.

So the host keeps the relationship as a mutualism and doesn't let the bird become a parasite.

Right.

And we can totally see these organisms working together, but not all of the mutualisms that

are out there are easy to find.

Some of them are a little more complex, easy ones are like trees, right?

They grow fruits so animals will eat them and distribute seeds.

Yeah.

Something that you can't see, but there's like plants give off oxygen and animals give

off carbon dioxide.

Exactly.

All of these relationships are pretty easy to find, easy to understand, but some mutualisms

aren't so easy to see and they can be way more intricate and complex.

Just off the 101 highway around San Francisco lives this butterfly.

It's beautiful, it's shimmery, flits around flower to flower living his little butterfly

life.

I didn't know something so pretty could be so tiny.

It is a cute little butterfly.

Yeah.

It's called the mission blue.

And if you see one in the wild, you're super lucky.

But what I want to show you today, doesn't really involve looking for the adult butterfly.

It's about the caterpillar.

To find these caterpillars, we had to go to one of only three places in the world where

these butterflies live.

Not actually that hill, it's this other hill over here, San Bruno mountain.

We're talking about a seriously rare habitat.

You couldn't just go there any time.

Mission blue caterpillars, they're only feeding for a few weeks of their year long lifecycle.

So we had to come to this specific mountain, on this specific day, and we would check in

daily to see if volunteers and park rangers had spotted any mission blue caterpillar's

on the three species of plant that they live on for their entire life.

This is like the definition of a micro habitat.

Yes!

And everything had to come together perfectly.

So one day we got this call from our guide, Kira.

She found caterpillars on the lupins, that's the type of plant.

And the next day we're on San Bruno mountain on a caterpillar.

I don't like to be this close to the ground.

I don't think I've ever spent this much time looking at one plant.

Welcome to my world.

I have no idea what I'm looking for, but I feel like I should at least try to look.

We spent the next half day down in the dirt, looking for a very well camouflaged caterpillar

that was like the size of my pinky nail.

And luckily for us, we found some.

These creatures spend almost their entire existence on a single plant.

But when you see an adult mission blue flying around, that part of its life, is maybe two

weeks max.

It's been alive for a year.

It's been alive for a year on the same plant.

So its entire life is wrapped up on what's going on in this one.

Talk about a small world.

So these caterpillars are on these lupins, but they weren't alone.

They have this mutualistic secret weapon.

These guys, these are native California formicine ants.

And if you watch closely, you can see them tapping their little antenna on the caterpillar's

back.

It's like a little massage and it stimulates the caterpillar to squeeze out some sweet

honeydew.

It's a nutritious amino acid cocktail that the ants, they eat it to survive.

I feel like honeydew is a very generous word for what that looks like?

They're squeezing sugar juice out of their butts.

Talk about pour some sugar on me.

Def Leppard was... caterpillars.

Okay, but that is not all that is going on here.

The caterpillar's really only have one job.

Which is to eat and get fat and poop like babies do.

As a dad, I'm very familiar with the concept.

These big fat juicy caterpillars are delicious for predators, not just as a snack, but also

for caterpillar shaped incubators for parasitic wasps.

The wasps will actually lay eggs inside the caterpillar and when they hatch, the wasp

larvae eat their way out.

Amazing.

The caterpillars actually keep the ants around and give them the honeydew because the ants

will fight off the parasitic wasps, thus protecting the caterpillar's and their honeydew goodness.

Okay, let me get this straight.

You've got this caterpillar that lives on this one hillside on this very specific plant

that is friends with ants that are fighting off parasitic wasps that just want to lay

eggs and in its big chunky body?

Yep.

That's it.

Yep.

And the caterpillar then grows up big and strong to become a tiny butterfly and start

the whole cycle again, thanks to the ants.

But it gets even weirder because if you think about it, the caterpillar is a parasite on

the lupin because it's eating the lupin's leaves.

Once the caterpillar pupates and becomes a butterfly, it then switches its relationship

to mutualistic, drinking the nectar and pollinating the plants.

It's super complex and cool, and if any, one thread of this little web disappears, everything

falls apart.

Wow, that is amazing!

Trace, how did you even get this footage?

We have a friend up in the bay area who, this is all he does.

It's incredible stuff.

And to be able to see this interaction and to get it on camera, it's pretty darn rare.

While we were putting this piece together, I kept asking experts and local volunteers

and guides about footage and clips, and it's not really something that people film.

This story that we're telling, these images of that ant tending its caterpillar teammate.

This might be some of the best footage of this interaction in existence, and it's an

important record of this relationship because these butterflies are actually at risk.

I don't want to touch it or disturb it too much because they are endangered.

We have to watch where we step.

I have to watch where all of our body parts are because we don't want to crush them.

One of the things that actually helped make them endangered, not just human activity in

terms of development, but also trampling.

It's one of the ways that you can kill them.

You gotta be really careful.

That legitimately gave me chills.

Did I forget to say that part?

Yeah.

It's endangered too.

And not only does the mission blue have this super complex web of relationships that all

hinge on each other in this one place on the whole planet, but MB2 has been on the endangered

species list since 1976, and it's hanging on by a thread.

In 1998, this unknown fungus attacked the lupins, the one plant that it lives on, and

almost wiped out the whole mission blue species.

It's been super tough.

The mission blue was actually named for San Francisco's Mission District.

Now one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city and we humans have sort of stranded

it on the outskirts of human developments and these little islands of nature.

And now to keep them in existence, we have to step in and take some responsibility for

them and their mutualistic web of partners.

Today, park rangers with the San Mateo Parks Department, the Golden Gate National Recreation

Area, the National Park Service and volunteers all over the place are trying to save the

mission blue.

Every year they plant lupins and in that tiny window of time where the adults are flying

around, but haven't laid eggs yet the Rangers capture them and release them in other parts

of the bay area to spread them around.

It is complicated because you're out, you aren't chasing around butterflies with a butterfly

net.

And then it's a matter of very carefully containing them, putting them on ice, in coolers, and

then driving them, moving them from one island of wild space in the bay area to another because

they can't cross these floss, the city, they need our help.

One of the things we've been focusing on in terms of conservation is getting more of these

different species of lupins planted and growing so that if, and when a meltdown like that

happens, that there's an alternative food source available and that the butterflies

don't palm it, the butterflies track right along with what the plants are doing.

There's some variation throughout the site and that's what you want.

There's more variability, more diversity that builds for a stronger, more resilient butterfly

population.

So by protecting the butterflies, they're protecting the lupins, the ants, it's everything.

Yeah.

Choosing which species to save from extinction isn't just about the species, it's also about

these relationships.

Without the butterflies, the lupins suffer, the ants suffer, and you could argue that

wasps might suffer too, their larvae.

They need to eat.

They're all connected.

When I watch this, I'm thinking, what is this footage going to be in the future?

Is it a time capsule of a future extinct species?

Or is this capturing the efforts that saved the mission blue?

When people start to develop a more intimate connection with the landscape around them,

with these wild spaces, it really reduces any sense of loneliness because if you can

look around and say, oh, I know that that's a lupin, and I know that the butterflies live

here, and I know that that's a California poppy, or I know that that's a golden violet

and there's another rare butterfly that utilizes that.

All of a sudden, you're not just out here walking along the trail, you're out here with

thousands of other things doing their thing and it's a much more exciting place to be.

It's an alive place.

Mutualism and symbiosis is really the lifeblood of billions of individual life forms all over

our planet.

And I could even argue that you, Emily, and you, Joe, are walking examples of mutualism.

Your gut bacteria needs a nice place to live and some food and in exchange, you get help

digesting your lunch.

These relationships, they give me so much more respect for the power of natural selection

and evolution.

I mean, there's no direction or intent, right?

These ants and these caterpillars, they're not conscious that they're helping each other.

Yet nature is still able to weave these beautiful and intricate webs.

Absolutely!

And one of the reasons that we made this series is that we wanted to look at nature more holistically,

right?

It's not just individual animals or specific places, but relationships.

Even conservationists have forgotten this in the past.

Sometimes looking at things, species by species.

And we can't forget these links.

It's not just lions.

It's not just bison.

It's not just humans.

We are all connected.

But you look at a small thing and you're like, well, that must be simple.

But in reality, they're both equally complicated.

It requires the entire mountain for them to exist.

So they're big.

They're the size of the mountain.

And next time we'll be bringing you another story of these intricate webs in nature.

One that connects a pile of elephant dung in Africa to a football stadium in California.

There's bugs.

Hey guys, quick question.

Have you checked out Out Of Our Elements yet?

That's a new series on PBS Terra that explores the molecular stories underpinning our everyday,

natural world.

From the first molecule in the universe to the water that we drink, Out Of Our Elements

shows that if you look closely enough, what may seem familiar can actually be extraordinary.

You can check it out in the link down in the description and be sure to tell them that

I sent you.

These Butt-Tickling Ants Are Endangered Butterfly Bodyguards | IN OUR NATURE Diese arschkitzelnden Ameisen sind gefährdete Schmetterlingswächter | IN UNSERER NATUR Estas hormigas que pican el culo son guardaespaldas de mariposas en peligro de extinción | EN NUESTRA NATURALEZA Ces fourmis piqueuses de fesses sont les gardes du corps des papillons en voie de disparition | DANS NOTRE NATURE Queste formiche che fanno il solletico alle chiappe sono guardie del corpo delle farfalle in via di estinzione | NELLA NOSTRA NATURA お尻をくすぐるアリは絶滅危惧種の蝶のボディガード|IN OUR NATURE Šios užpakaliuką kutenančios skruzdėlės yra nykstančių drugelių asmens sargybiniai | MŪSŲ NATŪRA Deze kont-kietelende mieren zijn bedreigde vlinder lijfwachten | IN ONZE NATUUR Te łaskoczące mrówki są zagrożonymi ochroniarzami motyli | W NASZEJ PRZYRODZIE Estas formigas que fazem cócegas nas nádegas são guarda-costas de borboletas em vias de extinção | NA NOSSA NATUREZA Эти щекочущие муравьи - телохранители бабочек, находящиеся под угрозой исчезновения | В НАШЕЙ ПРИРОДЕ Dessa rumpkittlande myror är utrotningshotade fjärilsbodyguards | I VÅR NATUR Bu Kıç Gıdıklayan Karıncalar Nesli Tükenmekte Olan Kelebek Korumaları | DOĞAMIZDA 这些屁股痒痒的蚂蚁是濒临灭绝的蝴蝶保镖我们的本性 這些屁股癢癢的螞蟻是瀕臨滅絕的蝴蝶保鑣我們的本性

The Serengeti is one of the richest ecosystems on Earth, but surviving out here is not easy. El Serengeti es uno de los ecosistemas más ricos de la Tierra, pero sobrevivir aquí no es fácil. De Serengeti is een van de rijkste ecosystemen op aarde, maar hier overleven is niet eenvoudig.

You've got lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, crocs, and that's just the stuff with sharp Tienes leones, guepardos, leopardos, hienas, cocodrilos, y eso es sólo lo que tiene filo.

teeth.

You've also got giant elephants, rhinos, buffalo to worry about too. También hay que preocuparse por los elefantes gigantes, los rinocerontes y los búfalos.

Hippos, you definitely don't want to run into the hippos. Nilpferde wollen Sie auf keinen Fall treffen. Hipopótamos, definitivamente no querrás toparte con los hipopótamos. Бегемоти, ви точно не захочете зіткнутися з бегемотами.

They kill more people every year than sharks, which is a fact that continues to blow my Sie töten jedes Jahr mehr Menschen als Haie, eine Tatsache, die mich immer wieder überrascht. Cada año matan a más personas que los tiburones, un hecho que me sigue sorprendiendo.

mind.

And that's just the big stuff. Y eso es sólo lo importante.

There are countless little bugs who just love the opportunity to take a big old belly full Hay innumerables bichitos a los que les encanta la oportunidad de tomar un gran Есть бесчисленное множество маленьких жуков, которые просто обожают возможность наесться большим старым животом.

of your blood, or maybe lay a few parasite eggs under your skin. de tu sangre, o tal vez poner algunos huevos de parásito bajo tu piel.

What's going on?

Just a swarm of Tsetse flies inside the vehicle. Sólo un enjambre de moscas tsetsé dentro del vehículo. Slechts een zwerm Tseetseevliegen vliegt in het voertuig. Просто рой цеце летит внутрь машины.

Nothing to worry about.

Surviving out here is hardcore, but it's easier if you don't go it alone. Hier overleven is hardcore, maar het is makkelijker als je het niet alleen doet.

Today, we're going to look at some stories where species cooperate to help each other Hoy vamos a ver algunas historias en las que las especies cooperan para ayudarse mutuamente

survive.

If you know what you're looking for, you can find these relationships everywhere. Si sabes lo que buscas, puedes encontrar estas relaciones en todas partes.

And we're also going to look at what happens when these alliances get a little out of balance. Y también vamos a ver qué ocurre cuando estas alianzas se desequilibran un poco. И мы также собираемся посмотреть, что происходит, когда эти союзы немного выходят из равновесия.

Teamwork makes the dream work and it's a good way not to die. El trabajo en equipo hace que el sueño funcione y es una buena forma de no morir. Работа в команде заставляет мечту работать, и это хороший способ не умереть.

You guys know what makes this show work? ¿Saben qué hace que este programa funcione?

Post-production team? Postproduktions-Team?

Yeah, I was going to say, producer Amanda? Sí, iba a decir, ¿productora Amanda?

I'll acknowledge, my jokes are a big part of it guys. Lo reconozco, mis bromas son una gran parte de ello chicos.

I know, but it's teamwork.

And what makes teamwork work?

I can't just ask you guys to do stuff for me. No puedo pediros que hagáis cosas por mí.

I have to do something for you in return. Tengo que hacer algo por ti a cambio.

You scratch my back. Me rascas la espalda.

I'll scratch yours.

You know, I'm not really comfortable with scratching Sabes, no me siento muy cómodo rascándome

your back, Trace.

Joe, it's an expression.

Cooperation within species, that's one thing, right? Die Zusammenarbeit innerhalb der Arten ist eine Sache, oder? La cooperación entre especies es una cosa, ¿no?

But what about cooperation between species? Aber wie sieht es mit der Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Arten aus? Pero, ¿qué ocurre con la cooperación entre especies?

Insects, pollinating flowers, and that kind of thing?

Totally.

That's a classic example, right?

The flower gives the insect some pollen or nectar to eat and the insect helps the flower

make baby flowers.

The technical term for this kind of relationship is called a mutualism. De technische term voor dit soort relaties wordt mutualisme genoemd.

It's sort of any relationship where both species get a benefit. Es una especie de relación en la que ambas especies obtienen un beneficio.

And if you go looking for these mutualisms and just about any ecosystem on Earth, you Y si vas en busca de estos mutualismos y casi cualquier ecosistema en la Tierra, que En als je op zoek gaat naar deze mutualismen en zowat elk ecosysteem op aarde, dan ben je

can get some pretty weird examples. kann man ziemlich seltsame Beispiele finden. puede obtener ejemplos bastante extraños.

Acacia trees are an iconic site across the African Savannah. Akazienbäume sind ein Wahrzeichen der afrikanischen Savanne. Las acacias son un icono de la sabana africana. Деревья акации являются знаковым местом в африканской саванне.

These fractal, river-like branches and broad, wide canopies with all their leaves clustered Diese fraktalen, flussähnlichen Äste und die breiten, weiten Baumkronen mit den vielen Blättern, die sich aneinanderreihen Estas ramas fractales y fluviales y las amplias copas con todas sus hojas agrupadas Эти фрактальные, похожие на реку ветви и широкие, широкие навесы со всеми их листьями, сгруппированными

up top, as if they're reaching for the sun, you get to know how they get that shape. arriba, como si buscaran el sol, se llega a saber cómo consiguen esa forma.

The gardener does it. Lo hace el jardinero.

One of those snippers that you can get at the hardware store, the really big one. Eine dieser Scheren, die man im Baumarkt kaufen kann, die ganz großen. Una de esas tijeras que puedes comprar en la ferretería, de las grandes. Een van die snippers die je bij de bouwmarkt kunt krijgen, de hele grote. Один из тех ножниц, которые можно купить в хозяйственном магазине, очень большой.

There's just one person doing that all day long. Sólo hay una persona haciendo eso todo el día.

I want that job. Quiero ese trabajo.

It's actually because of this: Nature's hedge trimmers. En realidad es por esto: Los cortasetos de la naturaleza.

Acacia trees look like that because that's how high a giraffe can reach. Las acacias tienen ese aspecto porque es la altura que puede alcanzar una jirafa.

Those are the only leafs left. Das sind die einzigen verbliebenen Blätter. Esas son las únicas hojas que quedan.

Once you get up close to an Acacia, you're really going to wonder why anything would Una vez que te acercas a una Acacia, realmente te vas a preguntar por qué algo podría

go through the trouble of trying to eat it Out here, we're surrounded by Acacias. pasar por la molestia de tratar de comer aquí, estamos rodeados de Acacias.

And the one thing I've noticed about them is they are covered in thorns, but the giraffes Y la única cosa que he notado acerca de ellos es que están cubiertos de espinas, pero las jirafas

are still eating on them like it's not a problem. siguen comiendo en ellos como si no fuera un problema.

They just don't care. Simplemente no les importa.

Giraffes are so well adapted with that long tongue and they sort of get that tongue through Las jirafas están tan bien adaptadas con esa lengua larga y como que pasan esa lengua a través de

the thorns and can still get out the leafs. las espinas y aún puede sacar las hojas.

In the Serengeti, everything is mean. In der Serengeti ist alles gemein. En el Serengeti, todo es mezquino.

Some Acacias are a little meaner than others. Algunas Acacias son un poco más malas que otras.

It's not a meal I would take, but we have another type of Acacia over here. No es una comida que yo tomaría, pero aquí tenemos otro tipo de Acacia. Я бы не стала есть, но у нас есть другой вид акации.

It's still covered in thorns. Он все еще покрыт шипами.

This one's really interesting. Это действительно интересно.

This is called a whistling thorn, and it's adapted a really interesting relationship Esto se llama una espina silbante, y ha adaptado una relación realmente interesante Это называется свистящий шип, и он адаптировал действительно интересные отношения.

with ants.

So these are little ant houses. Así que estos son pequeños hormigueros.

Basically.

You can see them all around.

Ant houses built right into the tree.

This little Acacia grows these nodules, especially when they're young like this and inside of Esta pequeña Acacia crece estos nódulos, especialmente cuando son jóvenes como este y dentro de Эта маленькая акация выращивает эти узелки, особенно когда они такие молодые и внутри

those nodules live ants, an entire colony of ants in this tree. в этих узелках живут муравьи, целая колония муравьев на этом дереве.

You got ants in your plants? ¿Tienes hormigas en tus plantas?

Dad joke, check. Chiste de papá, comprobado.

You only have to change one word in a dad joke to make it a bad joke. Basta con cambiar una palabra en un chiste de padres para que sea un chiste malo. Вам нужно всего лишь изменить одно слово в шутке про папу, чтобы она стала плохой шуткой.

One letter even. Incluso una letra.

Young plants need all the protection they can get out here with all the browsers. Las plantas jóvenes necesitan toda la protección que puedan conseguir aquí con todos los navegadores. Jonge planten hebben alle bescherming nodig die ze hier kunnen krijgen met alle browsers. Молодым растениям нужна вся защита, которую они могут получить здесь со всеми браузерами.

And this is like a super evolution of protection.

This is just swarming with ants, and this would send a very clear signal. Esto es sólo un enjambre de hormigas, y esto enviaría una señal muy clara. Это просто кишит муравьями, и это было бы очень четким сигналом.

If you're a giraffe trying to munch on this, I have a feeling you'd pick a different plant. Si fueras una jirafa intentando masticar esto, tengo la sensación de que elegirías otra planta. Если бы вы были жирафом, пытающимся полакомиться этим, у меня такое чувство, что вы бы выбрали другое растение.

The minute you disturb the plant, all these ants are going to come rushing out. En cuanto alteres la planta, todas estas hormigas saldrán corriendo. Как только вы потревожите растение, все эти муравьи выскочат наружу.

I mean, the thorns are a big message, but the ants are a double no for me. Quiero decir, las espinas son un gran mensaje, pero las hormigas son un doble no para mí. Я имею в виду, что шипы — это большое послание, но муравьи — это двойное «нет» для меня.

So let me make sure I've got this. Así que déjame asegurarme de que tengo esto.

You said mutualism requires bolt species to get a benefit. Dijiste que el mutualismo requiere que las especies perno obtengan un beneficio.

The plant gets protection from hungry stuff and the ants get a tree house. La planta se protege del hambre y las hormigas tienen una casa en el árbol.

Exactly.

And there's even more going on here. Y aún hay más.

That's incredible.

So the plant gives them a place to live, And in return, it gets protection. Die Pflanze bietet ihnen also einen Platz zum Leben, und im Gegenzug erhält sie Schutz. Así que la planta les da un lugar para vivir, Y a cambio, obtiene protección.

But there's even more because the plant, if you look down there, provides little nodules Pero hay aún más porque la planta, si miras ahí abajo, proporciona pequeños nódulos

that the cream sugar...

It just came in and took a little drop of nectar off the base. Sólo entró y tomó una gotita de néctar de la base. Он просто пришел и взял с основания маленькую каплю нектара.

It's incredible.

Not only does this Acacia give the ants a place to live, it actually feeds them too, Esta acacia no sólo proporciona a las hormigas un lugar donde vivir, sino que también las alimenta,

in return for protection.

What's really crazy to me is neither of these organisms is conscious that they're in this

mutualistic relationship, the plants, they don't even have brains.

I know, they just evolved this way, adapting and trying to survive and you get this.

It's crazy.

I love natural selection.

You should get that on a T-shirt. Вы должны получить это на футболке.

So anything that tries to take a bite, these ants are going to say, "No thanks, not at Así que cualquier cosa que intente morder, estas hormigas van a decir: "No, gracias, no en...".

our house".

This is a great example of [crosstalk 00:05:47] both getting a benefit.

When there's so many other things, why would you waste your time?

The last thing you'd want is ants on your tongue.

We'll leave him alone.

We're not hungry. No tenemos hambre.

Go about your ant business. Kümmern Sie sich um Ihr Ameisengeschäft. Ocúpate de tus asuntos de hormiga. Займитесь своими муравьиными делами.

But why is it called a whistling thorn? Но почему его называют свистящим шипом?

Excellent question.

So it turns out, in addition to being an awesome photographer and filmmaker and safari guide,

Jahawi is also a really talented musician too.

The interesting thing is that when you get really good wind coming through here, through Lo interesante es que cuando tienes muy buen viento que viene a través de aquí, a través de

these little nodules, it acts like a whistle.

So all of a sudden the whole tree starts to whistle. Entonces, de repente, todo el árbol empieza a silbar.

All those little holes that the ants are coming in and out of are like a little flute.

It's creates a flute.

That's why it's called a whistling thorn.

A thorn! ¡Una espina!

Guys.

Okay.

It wasn't very windy.

I'm sorry.

I don't control the weather, but it is totally true.

I would never lie to my teammates.

So the Serengeti is also home to one of the most iconic and awesome mutualisms in the Таким образом, Серенгети также является домом для одного из самых знаковых и удивительных мутуализмов в мире.

animal kingdom.

Those are these birds.

They're called honeyguides.

And I guess their name kind of tells you what they do. Y supongo que su nombre te dice lo que hacen.

The bird locates a beehive, but it can't get to the honey on account of all the angry bees. El pájaro localiza una colmena, pero no puede llegar a la miel por culpa de todas las abejas enfurecidas.

So it calls to the honey badger in however honey badgers and honeyguides communicate, Así que llama al tejón de la miel como se comunican los tejones y los guías de la miel,

I don't know.

I don't speak bird.

Come on over. Ven aquí.

I got some food. Tengo algo de comida.

I'll be right there. Voy para allá.

And the honey badger follows the honeyguide over to the hive. Y el tejón de la miel sigue al guía hasta la colmena.

Somehow, both species know that there are these delicious treats at the end of this Каким-то образом оба вида знают, что в конце этой трапезы есть вкусные угощения.

trip.

So the honey badger breaks open the hive, eats its fill of delicious honey. Así que el tejón de la miel abre la colmena y se come su deliciosa miel.

Then the bird comes in, gets its own meal of wax and larva and honey, all because the Затем прилетает птица, получает свою порцию воска, личинок и меда, и все потому, что

honey badger did the hard work.

Sure, the honey badger don't give a you know what, but it can lend a helping hand. Seguro que al tejón melero no le importa nada, pero puede echar una mano.

A helping paw. Una pata que ayuda. Помогающая лапа.

Classic mutualism.

Each species is getting a benefit.

Okay, I've got one more.

And this one gets at a big unanswered question underlying all of these mutualistic relationships. Y ésta aborda una gran pregunta sin respuesta que subyace a todas estas relaciones mutualistas.

You guys ever wonder how a giraffe scratches its neck? ¿Os habéis preguntado alguna vez cómo se rasca el cuello una jirafa? Ви коли-небудь замислювалися над тим, як жирафа чухає шию?

That is your big unanswered question?

Okay.

Actually, no, that is not the question.

But I'm asking this one before I get to the important one. Pero pregunto esta antes de llegar a la importante.

How do they scratch their neck?

They don't, they actually have these little birds do it for them.

These cute little flappy flaps, flappy flaps? Estas lindas solapas, ¿solapas? Deze schattige flappy flappen, flappy flappen? Эти милые маленькие лоскутки, хлопчатобумажные лоскуты?

I don't think we call birds flappy flaps. No creo que a los pájaros les llamemos aletas.

Flappy flaps.

I like it.

These cute little feathery friends are called oxpeckers and their name also tells you what Estos simpáticos amiguitos emplumados se llaman pájaros carpinteros y su nombre también indica lo que son.

they do, but they don't just live on oxen. lo hacen, pero no sólo viven de los bueyes.

You'll pretty much find them on the backs of any four-legged, plant-eating animal on Se encuentran en el lomo de cualquier animal de cuatro patas que se alimente de plantas. Вы можете найти их на спине любого четвероногого растительноядного животного.

the Savannah.

So they sit on the backs of grazing animals, and they eat ticks and worms and even grow Так они сидят на спинах пасущихся животных, едят клещей и червей и даже растут

stuff like scabs and ear wax and those little buggers you get in the corner of your eye. cosas como costras y cera de los oídos y esos bichitos que te salen en el rabillo del ojo. такие вещи, как струпья и ушная сера, и эти маленькие жучки, которые появляются в уголках глаз.

I mean, that happens to animals too. Eso también les pasa a los animales.

Yeah.

Fun fact, they actually will roost in the nether regions of giraffes too. Como dato curioso, también se posan en las regiones inferiores de las jirafas. Leuk weetje, ze zullen ook in de lagere regionen van giraffen gaan slapen.

That is a very fun fact.

The oxpecker gets their food and their yummies and the host gets cleaned off and stays healthy. De ossenpik krijgt hun eten en hun yummies en de gastheer wordt schoongemaakt en blijft gezond.

And sometimes the oxpeckers will even warn their hosts that predators are nearby. Y a veces los pájaros carpinteros incluso avisan a sus anfitriones de que hay depredadores cerca.

Hey, there's a lion!

But in like, bird speak.

This is an obvious win-win mutualism, right?, Well, it's actually not always that simple.

And this is the big unanswered question.

What keeps these mutualisms going?

Yeah.

I mean, now that you mention it, it seems like it would be pretty easy for one half

of the relationship to become a freeloader.

Right?

Getting a benefit without having to do any other work. Obtener una prestación sin tener que hacer ningún otro trabajo.

I was thinking the same thing, like if a butterfly decides to get the nectar, but it doesn't Yo estaba pensando lo mismo, como si una mariposa decide obtener el néctar, pero no lo hace

do any pollinating or if the ants, live rent free inside the Acacia, but they stop protecting polinizar o si las hormigas, viven libres de alquiler dentro de la Acacia, pero dejan de proteger

the plant from hungry animals somehow. la planta de los animales hambrientos de alguna manera.

Right.

Mutualisms require a balance, but it might, sometimes, be easier to cheat. Los mutualismos requieren un equilibrio, pero a veces es más fácil hacer trampas.

Actually when scientists study these oxpeckers, they noticed that when there wasn't enough En realidad, cuando los científicos estudian estos oxpeckers, se dieron cuenta de que cuando no había suficiente

bugs and worms and nasty stuff to eat.

They would pack new wounds in the backs of their hosts and drink their blood. Hacían nuevas heridas en las espaldas de sus anfitriones y bebían su sangre.

What, like vampire birds?

We're talking about Nosferatu? ¿Estamos hablando de Nosferatu? We hebben het over Nosferatu?

But there is a way to keep this in balance. Pero hay una forma de mantener el equilibrio.

The host never quite lets the oxpecker get comfortable enough to do its job. El anfitrión nunca deja que el oxpecker se sienta lo suficientemente cómodo como para hacer su trabajo.

They're always swatting and shaking and flicking their ear so the bird never gets totally comfortable Siempre están golpeando, sacudiendo y agitando la oreja para que el pájaro nunca se sienta del todo cómodo.

unless it's doing its good grooming behavior. a menos que esté haciendo su buen comportamiento de aseo.

So the host keeps the relationship as a mutualism and doesn't let the bird become a parasite. Así que el huésped mantiene la relación como un mutualismo y no deja que el ave se convierta en un parásito.

Right.

And we can totally see these organisms working together, but not all of the mutualisms that

are out there are easy to find.

Some of them are a little more complex, easy ones are like trees, right?

They grow fruits so animals will eat them and distribute seeds.

Yeah.

Something that you can't see, but there's like plants give off oxygen and animals give

off carbon dioxide. de dióxido de carbono.

Exactly.

All of these relationships are pretty easy to find, easy to understand, but some mutualisms

aren't so easy to see and they can be way more intricate and complex.

Just off the 101 highway around San Francisco lives this butterfly.

It's beautiful, it's shimmery, flits around flower to flower living his little butterfly Es hermosa, es brillante, revolotea de flor en flor viviendo su pequeña mariposa Het is prachtig, het glinstert, fladdert van bloem tot bloem en leeft zijn kleine vlinder

life.

I didn't know something so pretty could be so tiny.

It is a cute little butterfly.

Yeah.

It's called the mission blue.

And if you see one in the wild, you're super lucky.

But what I want to show you today, doesn't really involve looking for the adult butterfly. Pero lo que quiero mostrarte hoy, no implica realmente buscar la mariposa adulta.

It's about the caterpillar.

To find these caterpillars, we had to go to one of only three places in the world where

these butterflies live.

Not actually that hill, it's this other hill over here, San Bruno mountain.

We're talking about a seriously rare habitat. Estamos hablando de un hábitat muy raro.

You couldn't just go there any time. No podías ir allí en cualquier momento.

Mission blue caterpillars, they're only feeding for a few weeks of their year long lifecycle. Die blauen Raupen der Mission füttern nur ein paar Wochen ihres einjährigen Lebenszyklus. Las orugas azules de la misión sólo se alimentan durante unas pocas semanas de su ciclo vital, que dura un año.

So we had to come to this specific mountain, on this specific day, and we would check in

daily to see if volunteers and park rangers had spotted any mission blue caterpillar's diariamente para ver si los voluntarios y los guardas del parque habían avistado alguna oruga azul misión

on the three species of plant that they live on for their entire life.

This is like the definition of a micro habitat. Das ist sozusagen die Definition eines Mikrohabitats.

Yes!

And everything had to come together perfectly. Y todo tenía que salir a la perfección.

So one day we got this call from our guide, Kira. Así que un día recibimos una llamada de nuestra guía, Kira.

She found caterpillars on the lupins, that's the type of plant. Encontró orugas en los altramuces, ese es el tipo de planta.

And the next day we're on San Bruno mountain on a caterpillar. Y al día siguiente estamos en la montaña de San Bruno en una oruga.

I don't like to be this close to the ground. No me gusta estar tan cerca del suelo.

I don't think I've ever spent this much time looking at one plant. Creo que nunca he pasado tanto tiempo mirando una planta.

Welcome to my world.

I have no idea what I'm looking for, but I feel like I should at least try to look. No tengo ni idea de lo que busco, pero siento que al menos debería intentar buscar.

We spent the next half day down in the dirt, looking for a very well camouflaged caterpillar Pasamos el siguiente medio día en la tierra, en busca de una oruga muy bien camuflado

that was like the size of my pinky nail. que era como del tamaño de la uña de mi dedo meñique.

And luckily for us, we found some.

These creatures spend almost their entire existence on a single plant.

But when you see an adult mission blue flying around, that part of its life, is maybe two

weeks max.

It's been alive for a year.

It's been alive for a year on the same plant.

So its entire life is wrapped up on what's going on in this one. Así que toda su vida está envuelta en lo que está pasando en este.

Talk about a small world. Hablando de un mundo pequeño.

So these caterpillars are on these lupins, but they weren't alone.

They have this mutualistic secret weapon.

These guys, these are native California formicine ants. Estos tipos, son hormigas formicinas nativas de California. Deze jongens, dit zijn inheemse Californische mierenmieren.

And if you watch closely, you can see them tapping their little antenna on the caterpillar's Y si observas atentamente, puedes ver cómo golpean su pequeña antena en la oruga.

back.

It's like a little massage and it stimulates the caterpillar to squeeze out some sweet Es como un pequeño masaje y estimula a la oruga a exprimir un poco de dulce

honeydew.

It's a nutritious amino acid cocktail that the ants, they eat it to survive.

I feel like honeydew is a very generous word for what that looks like? Me parece que melazo es una palabra muy generosa para lo que parece...

They're squeezing sugar juice out of their butts. Están exprimiendo jugo de azúcar de sus traseros.

Talk about pour some sugar on me. Hablando de echarme azúcar encima.

Def Leppard was... caterpillars. Def Leppard eran... orugas.

Okay, but that is not all that is going on here.

The caterpillar's really only have one job.

Which is to eat and get fat and poop like babies do. Que es comer, engordar y hacer caca como los bebés.

As a dad, I'm very familiar with the concept.

These big fat juicy caterpillars are delicious for predators, not just as a snack, but also Estas orugas gordas y jugosas son deliciosas para los depredadores, no sólo como tentempié, sino también

for caterpillar shaped incubators for parasitic wasps. para incubadoras en forma de oruga para avispas parásitas.

The wasps will actually lay eggs inside the caterpillar and when they hatch, the wasp

larvae eat their way out.

Amazing.

The caterpillars actually keep the ants around and give them the honeydew because the ants

will fight off the parasitic wasps, thus protecting the caterpillar's and their honeydew goodness. combatirá a las avispas parásitas, protegiendo así a las orugas y sus bondades melíferas.

Okay, let me get this straight. Okay, damit ich das richtig verstehe. Vale, a ver si lo entiendo.

You've got this caterpillar that lives on this one hillside on this very specific plant Es gibt eine Raupe, die an diesem einen Hang an dieser ganz bestimmten Pflanze lebt Tienes esta oruga que vive en esta ladera en esta planta muy específica...

that is friends with ants that are fighting off parasitic wasps that just want to lay

eggs and in its big chunky body? huevos y en su gran cuerpo fornido?

Yep.

That's it. Ya está.

Yep.

And the caterpillar then grows up big and strong to become a tiny butterfly and start

the whole cycle again, thanks to the ants.

But it gets even weirder because if you think about it, the caterpillar is a parasite on Pero se vuelve aún más extraño porque si lo piensas, la oruga es un parásito en

the lupin because it's eating the lupin's leaves. el altramuz porque se está comiendo las hojas del altramuz.

Once the caterpillar pupates and becomes a butterfly, it then switches its relationship Una vez que la oruga pupa y se convierte en mariposa, entonces cambia su relación

to mutualistic, drinking the nectar and pollinating the plants. a mutualista, bebiendo el néctar y polinizando las plantas.

It's super complex and cool, and if any, one thread of this little web disappears, everything Es supercomplejo y genial, y si desaparece un solo hilo de esta pequeña telaraña, todo

falls apart. se desmorona.

Wow, that is amazing!

Trace, how did you even get this footage? Trace, ¿cómo conseguiste estas imágenes? Трейсе, як ти взагалі отримав ці кадри?

We have a friend up in the bay area who, this is all he does. Tenemos un amigo en el área de la bahía que, esto es todo lo que hace.

It's incredible stuff.

And to be able to see this interaction and to get it on camera, it's pretty darn rare. Y poder ver esta interacción y grabarla en cámara, es bastante raro. En om deze interactie te kunnen zien en op camera te krijgen, is het vrij zeldzaam.

While we were putting this piece together, I kept asking experts and local volunteers

and guides about footage and clips, and it's not really something that people film. y guías sobre metraje y clips, y en realidad no es algo que la gente filme.

This story that we're telling, these images of that ant tending its caterpillar teammate.

This might be some of the best footage of this interaction in existence, and it's an

important record of this relationship because these butterflies are actually at risk. Diese Beziehung muss unbedingt dokumentiert werden, denn diese Schmetterlinge sind tatsächlich gefährdet.

I don't want to touch it or disturb it too much because they are endangered.

We have to watch where we step. Tenemos que mirar por dónde pisamos.

I have to watch where all of our body parts are because we don't want to crush them. Tengo que vigilar dónde están todas las partes de nuestro cuerpo porque no queremos aplastarlas.

One of the things that actually helped make them endangered, not just human activity in

terms of development, but also trampling. términos de desarrollo, sino también de atropello.

It's one of the ways that you can kill them.

You gotta be really careful. Tienes que tener mucho cuidado.

That legitimately gave me chills. Eso sí que me dio escalofríos. Від цього у мене аж мороз по шкірі пішов.

Did I forget to say that part? ¿Me olvidé de decir esa parte?

Yeah.

It's endangered too. También está en peligro.

And not only does the mission blue have this super complex web of relationships that all Y no sólo la misión azul tiene esta super compleja red de relaciones que todos

hinge on each other in this one place on the whole planet, but MB2 has been on the endangered en este único lugar del planeta, pero MB2 ha estado en peligro de extinción

species list since 1976, and it's hanging on by a thread. lista de especies desde 1976, y pende de un hilo.

In 1998, this unknown fungus attacked the lupins, the one plant that it lives on, and En 1998, este hongo desconocido atacó a los altramuces, la única planta en la que vive, y

almost wiped out the whole mission blue species. casi acabó con toda la especie azul de la misión.

It's been super tough.

The mission blue was actually named for San Francisco's Mission District. El azul misión debe su nombre al barrio de la Misión de San Francisco.

Now one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city and we humans have sort of stranded Ahora uno de los barrios más populares de la ciudad y los seres humanos han tipo de varados

it on the outskirts of human developments and these little islands of nature. en las afueras de los desarrollos humanos y estas pequeñas islas de naturaleza.

And now to keep them in existence, we have to step in and take some responsibility for Y ahora, para que sigan existiendo, tenemos que intervenir y asumir parte de la responsabilidad de

them and their mutualistic web of partners.

Today, park rangers with the San Mateo Parks Department, the Golden Gate National Recreation

Area, the National Park Service and volunteers all over the place are trying to save the

mission blue.

Every year they plant lupins and in that tiny window of time where the adults are flying

around, but haven't laid eggs yet the Rangers capture them and release them in other parts

of the bay area to spread them around.

It is complicated because you're out, you aren't chasing around butterflies with a butterfly Es complicado porque estás fuera, no estás persiguiendo mariposas con una mariposa Це складно, тому що ти на волі, ти не ганяєшся за метеликами з метеликом

net.

And then it's a matter of very carefully containing them, putting them on ice, in coolers, and Y luego es cuestión de contenerlos con mucho cuidado, ponerlos en hielo, en neveras, y En dan is het een kwestie van ze heel voorzichtig in te sluiten, op ijs te zetten, in koelers en...

then driving them, moving them from one island of wild space in the bay area to another because luego conduciéndolos, trasladándolos de una isla de espacio salvaje en la zona de la bahía a otra porque

they can't cross these floss, the city, they need our help. no pueden cruzar estos hilos, la ciudad, necesitan nuestra ayuda.

One of the things we've been focusing on in terms of conservation is getting more of these

different species of lupins planted and growing so that if, and when a meltdown like that diferentes especies de altramuces plantados y creciendo de modo que si, y cuando un deshielo como ese verschillende soorten lupines geplant en groeien, zodat als, en wanneer zo'n kernsmelting

happens, that there's an alternative food source available and that the butterflies

don't palm it, the butterflies track right along with what the plants are doing. no lo palmes, las mariposas siguen la pista de lo que hacen las plantas.

There's some variation throughout the site and that's what you want. Hay cierta variación en todo el sitio y eso es lo que uno quiere.

There's more variability, more diversity that builds for a stronger, more resilient butterfly

population.

So by protecting the butterflies, they're protecting the lupins, the ants, it's everything.

Yeah.

Choosing which species to save from extinction isn't just about the species, it's also about

these relationships.

Without the butterflies, the lupins suffer, the ants suffer, and you could argue that

wasps might suffer too, their larvae.

They need to eat.

They're all connected.

When I watch this, I'm thinking, what is this footage going to be in the future?

Is it a time capsule of a future extinct species?

Or is this capturing the efforts that saved the mission blue?

When people start to develop a more intimate connection with the landscape around them,

with these wild spaces, it really reduces any sense of loneliness because if you can

look around and say, oh, I know that that's a lupin, and I know that the butterflies live

here, and I know that that's a California poppy, or I know that that's a golden violet

and there's another rare butterfly that utilizes that.

All of a sudden, you're not just out here walking along the trail, you're out here with

thousands of other things doing their thing and it's a much more exciting place to be.

It's an alive place.

Mutualism and symbiosis is really the lifeblood of billions of individual life forms all over

our planet.

And I could even argue that you, Emily, and you, Joe, are walking examples of mutualism.

Your gut bacteria needs a nice place to live and some food and in exchange, you get help Tus bacterias intestinales necesitan un lugar agradable donde vivir y algo de comida y, a cambio, tú recibes ayuda

digesting your lunch.

These relationships, they give me so much more respect for the power of natural selection

and evolution.

I mean, there's no direction or intent, right?

These ants and these caterpillars, they're not conscious that they're helping each other.

Yet nature is still able to weave these beautiful and intricate webs.

Absolutely!

And one of the reasons that we made this series is that we wanted to look at nature more holistically,

right?

It's not just individual animals or specific places, but relationships.

Even conservationists have forgotten this in the past.

Sometimes looking at things, species by species.

And we can't forget these links.

It's not just lions.

It's not just bison.

It's not just humans.

We are all connected.

But you look at a small thing and you're like, well, that must be simple.

But in reality, they're both equally complicated.

It requires the entire mountain for them to exist.

So they're big.

They're the size of the mountain.

And next time we'll be bringing you another story of these intricate webs in nature.

One that connects a pile of elephant dung in Africa to a football stadium in California.

There's bugs.

Hey guys, quick question.

Have you checked out Out Of Our Elements yet?

That's a new series on PBS Terra that explores the molecular stories underpinning our everyday,

natural world.

From the first molecule in the universe to the water that we drink, Out Of Our Elements

shows that if you look closely enough, what may seem familiar can actually be extraordinary.

You can check it out in the link down in the description and be sure to tell them that

I sent you.