WE take them for granted, but if you look closely enough, insects are as endlessly fascinating – and downright weird – as any aliens Hollywood has imagined. In Insect Dissection: How Insects Work, we get as close a look as one could imagine, as entomologists James Logan and Brendan Dunphy use cutting-edge imaging technology to explore the anatomy of insects, to find out what makes them tick. Or buzz, scuttle, crawl and jump, for that matter.

Something in their make-up must work, as they include some of the most successful species on the planet. They outnumber humans by about 200 millionto- one, can survive in extreme environments and exert such an influence on Earth that the landscape would change irrevocably if they ceased to exist.

It’s a bug’s life, all right – and to better understand it, this documentary employs innovative techniques to discover how the secrets of their success lie in their unusual anatomy.