[Music]
danger passed
and that’s just as well
because he is a father
and he’s guarding some very precious
eggs
[Music]
for the last few weeks females one after
the other
have visited him and entrusted him with
their offspring
[Music]
some are now almost ready to hatch
[Music]
there are several clutches on the leaf
and those at the top
the most recently laid are barely a day
old
but in the jungle there’s always someone
out to get you
this wasp is a specialist hunter
of frog’s eggs
it’s noticed the wriggling tadpoles at
the bottom
of the leaf
he mustn’t move the youngest eggs are
the most vulnerable
and he can’t guard them all
but these tadpoles are not as helpless
as they might appear
incredibly the unhatched tadpoles can
sense danger and the oldest and
strongest
wriggle free and drop into the stream
[Music]
below
the eggs at the top of the leaf however
are still
too young to hatch
and now the wasps know they’re there
but the male’s back looks very like the
youngest cluster of eggs
and that seems to confuse the wasps
[Music]
using his own body as a decoy is a huge
risk
the wasp stings could kill him
[Applause]
[Music]
he’s managed to save most of his young
he’ll have to remain on guard for
another two weeks
but in the jungle just surviving the day
can count as a success
[Music]
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