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(Describer) Titles: KQED. PBS.
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(Describer) A worm coated with bits of sand props itself on a rock and moves its head.
Title: Deep Look.
An ant crawls by a small crater
(narrator)
You never really know
where trouble is lurking...
(Describer) Waving its antennae, another ant walks toward the crater.
when one wayward step...
(Describer) It falls and something wraps around it.
means disaster.
(Describer) It's released but gets grabbed again.
This small hole
in the sand
is really the lair
of a wormlion,
and it's ferocious.
(Describer) The worm keeps holding on.
You find them in dry,
dusty soil in the mountains
of Northern California.
The ground is
cratered with danger.
(Describer) Over a dozen craters mark a small area.
Sure, it's a tiny
little wriggly thing.
But wormlions
set a fearsome trap
that's straight
out of science fiction.
To build it, they slink
below the surface,
(Describer) One tunnels into dirt.
pushing through dirt,
sand, and rocks.
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(Describer) Soon, only its tail remains above the surface.
They'll fling them
out of the way
as they get settled
into their shallow pit.
(Describer) It curls and straightens, flicking dirt. One bit falls back in.
Oops, try again.
(Describer) It does and the bit stays out.
Then it just lies in wait.
It's almost invisible,
(Describer) It moves in the sand.
camouflaged by the sand
stuck to its body.
This ant is totally clueless.
(Describer) It picks around the edge of the crater.
(Describer) It falls and the wormlion attacks. Released, the ant shakily tries to climb out of the pit.
(Describer) Just as it reaches the edge, the wormlion grabs it again. Shown in fast-motion, the ant keeps struggling away and the wormlion keeps grabbing it.
The wormlion strikes
like a cobra,
injecting venom into
its prey to paralyze it.
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(Describer) With another curling strike, one ant leg barely moves in a mound of sand. The wormlion holds tighter.
It constricts the ant,
dragging it under
until it's all over.
When the wormlion is done
feeding on the juicy innards,
it flicks the empty
carcass away
(Describer) It flicks.
and tidies up its pit
for its next meal.
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(Describer) Another ant crawls over bits of dirt. It approaches the crater.
.
Um, careful.
(Describer) It goes around it, and away
After a couple of
years of the good life,
this wormlion will leave
this dusty ditch behind
and take to the skies.
Because, really,
it's not a worm at all.
It's a fly larva.
It'll turn into this--
a fly that lives
for less than a week.
Its only job is
to mate and lay eggs.
But for most of its life,
it's sitting pretty
in its pit,
waiting for lunch
to fall right in its lap.
(Describer) With scenes of the wormlion and other insects attacking prey, titles:
Producer/Writer: Jenny Oh
Cinematographer: Josh Cassidy
Narrator/Writer: Lauren Sommer
Original Music: Seth Samuel
Editors/Motion Graphics: Kia Simon, Jenny Oh
A KQED Production
Copyright 2019 KQED Inc.
Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.
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