MYSTERIOUS INSECTS, on the trails of origins – Airs on France 5

Without insects, ecosystems couldn’t function. The earth would literally suffocate from it’s own organic residue. Without insects, we’d have no fruits, vegetables or grains to keep us healthy. Without insects, human evolution would have taken a very different form, both our brains and our bodies would have developed in unimaginable ways. Whether mammoth or minuscule, contemporary or prehistoric, insects constitute the largest component of animal biodiversity. It is only recently that we have started to evaluate how insects have shaped the history of life on earth. Understanding their evolution has now become one of the main challenges of paleontology. This film is a scientific journey leading us from small laboratories to vast natural habitats, from age-old fossils to wide- open landscapes: an unprecedented adventure immersing us in the mysterious world of insects.