NARRATOR: This is a
Darwin stag beetle.
He's scaling a tree in the
hope of finding a female.
She could be anywhere up here.
And these trees grow
up to 100 feet high.
It's a long climb.
And his huge, antler-like
jaws are a bit of a hindrance.
They're longer than his body.
But these are not
just for decoration.
He's brandishing battle weapons.
There are other males climbing
the tree in hot pursuit
of a possible female.
Competition isn't welcome
on this bark battleground.
The stag beetle has some
dirty tricks to ensure
he gets ahead of the game.
For his signature move,
he needs a good grip
under his opponent's wings.
And using all his strength, he
heaves his rival off the tree.
It's a 50-foot fall, but beetle
armor is pretty resilient.
The winner climbs on until,
finally, there she is.
For all his efforts, she
doesn't seem interested.
But he's not taking
no for an answer.
With giant jaws like these, he
doesn't need to win her over.
He simply pins her down.
Success at last.
But in the heat of the moment,
he makes a foolish mistake.
His new found love is
quite literally dumped.
It's lucky his
reproductive success
doesn't rely on his smarts.
