use strict;
my $str = 'a_b_c_d_e_f_g_1_2_3_4_5
_b_c_dd_ee_f_g_1_222_333_4_5
b_c_dd_ee_f_g_1_222_333_4_5
_c_dd_ee_ff_g_1_222_333_444_5
c_dd_ee_ff_g_1_222_333_444_55_66
_dd_ee_ff_gg_1_222_333_444_55_66';
my $regex = qr/^(?:[^_]*_){3}([^_]+_[^_]+)_(?:[^_]+_){3}([^_]+_[^_]+).*/mp;
my $subst = '$1_$2';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html