Animal Planet Goes Around the World and the Yard to Explore Bizarre and Beautiful Bugs With New Series BUGGIN' WITH RUUD

- Entomologist Ruud Kleinpaste's New Series Destined to Create Buzz on Premiere Night, Wednesday, June 15, 9 PM ET -

- Series Follows the World Premiere of CORWIN'S QUEST as Part of Animal Planet's New Destination Night 'WILD WEDNESDAYS' -

SILVER SPRING, Md., Jan 13 -- Cicadas, tarantulas and beetles, oh my! Whether you love or loathe bugs, collect them or have the irresistible urge to squish them on sight, the adventures of Animal Planet's bug man, quirky entomologist Ruud Kleinpaste, offers viewers an eye-opening journey into the fascinating world of insects large and small. His world premiere series, BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, debuts on Animal Planet Wednesday, June 15, at 9 PM (ET) as part of the network's brand-new destination night, WILD WEDNESDAYS.

Following Animal Planet's popular special WORLD'S BIGGEST BADDEST BUGS with Ruud, this new series, BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, is a global arthropod adventure that uncovers little-known secrets about the insect world and debugs myths about multi-legged creepy-crawly species to entertain and enlighten two-legged humans. Ruud's travels will take him everywhere: He will cross paths with one of nature's most accomplished marksmen, the bombardier beetle, as it fires boiling hot, toxic fluid at predators in Africa. In Brazil, Ruud will be in for an incredible insect light show. He'll groove to the musical talents of the whistling tarantula and the singing caterpillar (it sounds like maracas) in Australia and Panama. In Asia, Ruud will witness the rhinoceros beetle lift 850 times its own weight, or the equivalent of a human lifting 80 midsized automobiles.

In BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, the New Zealand-based bug specialist, author, educator, researcher, musician and radio and television host, better known as the "Bugman," calls on his accomplished and diverse career with New Zealand's leading conservation and research centers and its leading television networks to explore the cracks and crevices of bedrooms, basements, deserts and rain forests in search of some of the world's most incredible insects.

After seeing a new bug and witnessing its coolest tricks, Ruud will show just how amazing it is by comparing it to something on a human scale, making a connection between our lives and those of insects. Using his own unique demonstrations and humorous analogies, the daring and determined scientist will do everything from climbing into a wind tunnel to experience what it feels like to be a desert locust flying through the air at 21 miles per hour, to spending a day buried underground to see firsthand what the cicada nymph goes through for 17 years, to seducing the sting of an angry hornet just to see how quickly it will summon a frightening swarm of supporters that force Ruud to take refuge in his car.

Covering the gamut of subjects from bugdom, each episode in the 13-part series explores a specific theme. Ruud sets off for Los Angeles in Entertaining Bugs to meet professional Hollywood bug wranglers and learn how they "train" their insects for the movies. Ruud gets his groove on to a bug symphony of sounds in Musical Bugs. Ultimate Bugs looks at what people have adapted from insects, from bugs revealing insights into robotic design and antiterrorism to bugs used in the medical industry. And probably the scariest of all, Ruud peeks behind your household curtains in Housemates from Hell, revealing houseguests you'd rather not know.

"Animal Planet has swarms of new, exciting programming set to debut in 2005, including BUGGIN' WITH RUUD, the network's first series dedicated to insects. We're taking Animal Planet viewers closer to bugs than they've ever imagined so they will have a truly sensory experience," said Maureen Smith, executive vice president, general manager, Animal Planet, U.S. "By combining BUGGIN' WITH RUUD and CORWIN'S QUEST, Animal Planet has turned Wednesday nights into WILD WEDNESDAYS, a must-watch primetime destination for our core audience."

BUGGIN' WITH RUUD is produced for Animal Planet by NHNZ Productions. Peter Hayden is the executive producer for NHNZ. Mick Kaczorowski is the executive producer for Animal Planet.

Animal Planet, available in more than 86 million homes nationwide, is the only television network dedicated exclusively to the connection between humans and animals. The network's original programming brings together people of all ages by tapping into a fundamental fascination with animals and providing an entertaining mix of programming, including original movies, adventure series, sports, drama and sitcoms. Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel, Discovery Home Channel, The Military Channel, Discovery en Espanol and FitTV. The unit also distributes BBC AMERICA.

SOURCE Animal Planet
Web Site: http://www.discovery.com