Moths in slow motion [video]

[gamerDude]

This made me feel so much better about moths. With the video so close up they looked super cute and snuggly. Something I have never associated with a moth before.

Secondly, I found it pretty cool to see how their flight wasn't as controlled as I had thought of. It looked like a bit of a mess on take off. Again, just disarmed me from the moths I've grown to despise flying around the house.

Very cool to see them from a different perspective.

[fhe]

> "their flight wasn't as controlled as I had thought of"

I had the same reaction, and it reminded me of other slo-mo videos of insects crawling -- it looked like they are falling all over themselves, with none of the gracefulness that I see in mammals (cheetah running, for example). I wonder if it has to do with insects having much smaller mass, hence they are more easily jerked around by things like airflow.

[SyzygistSix]

The Rosy Maple moth is my favorite so it makes me happy to se it as the first one. It's a good moth to represent the cute or adorable aspect of moths. There is a similar, almost identical fuzzy wig moth like them that is entirely white.

I think their flight is a good representation of Douglas Adams' description of flight being falling without hitting the ground.

Such a great channel and good start to the day.

[ajuc]

> I found it pretty cool to see how their flight wasn't as controlled as I had thought of.

In Polish the word for butterfly is "motyl" which comes from "motać" = to move around randomly, to struggle or to move in circles :)

BTW I always found it suspicious that "moth" is so similar to "motyl" yet it's apparently unrelated.

[pcurve]

Me too! Moths frighten me so much! I've always had this irrational fear that their powdery wings would cause skin rash.

[SiVal]

Fine cashmere? Too ordinary. Mink? Maybe, for the merely rich. When I make my first billion, I'll have a scarf made of snow-white moth fur.

[aasasd]

There were videos floating on the webs of bugs taking flight—looked way messier than this, pretty much jumbling around with legs swinging this and that way, until finally going in the air.

This vid, I think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87iV4ISAY5U

Better than I remembered, but those legs are funny.

[foobarian]

I found it interesting that the extreme slow motion made them seem a lot larger. As if they were furry dog-sized flying animals.

[deepsun]

Don't even look at bees landings in slow-motion :)

[malikNF]

Slightly off-topic, but I really love the video[1] embedded in the article. Just a slow motion video, no nonsense.

Most slow motion videos on youtube has a section on the setup, the backyard of the producer, the equipment etc. Just give me a slow motion video without all the interruptions.

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQL25_hoQ1k

[hbn]

I don't know what it is, but I get a weird, visceral, wincing reaction seeing bugs up close like this. Bugs are a real weakness for me.

I don't get put off by blood at all. I can handle (and in fact enjoy) gore in movies, horror movies, etc. But man, I don't know what it is with insects. Their tiny spindly legs, weird beady eyes, the wings, their hair, their antennae. Can't stand looking at it.

Fascinating creatures, but boy do they mess with my mind like nothing else.

[ioulian]

When I was young, I was also afraid of insects, especially flying ones. But I've read somewhere that you are afraid of animals if you don't see what they are thinking. Take for example dogs or cats, you can easily see what they are "thinking", by their movement, ears, tails...

Insects are so small that you can't see that, you don't know where they are looking, or if they are afraid or not.

Looking at macro photography of insects, you can see how they are build and the spiders (especially the jumping spiders) are quite cute. Knowing how they look and their behavioural patterns, and just reading more about them, allowed me to be less afraid of them.

Now I don't know if that is "scientifically correct", but it helped me.

[pengaru]

Oh man, you'd have a field day with [0]. It's packed with fascinating macro photos of insects.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/379271.For_Love_of_Insec...

[chelonian]

You have to try to see them as kind of Muppets. These moths are easy in that regard. They are sort of a mixture of silly looking, beautiful, and cutely clumsy.

There are some repellant looking arthropods, but these moths are the beginner level in getting used to looking at such creatures.

[seoulmetro]

I get the same thing with any form of biological 'inside', but outsides I"m usually fine with. Hand drawn depiction of how nasal cavities work? Eugh, dizziness and instant relation to my own gaping head.

Bug shots, bug squishing, blood in movies? Squished brain etc.? All good to most degrees.

I pass out during 2D animation demonstrations on how bodies work.

I pass out during nasal allergy tests. I can't imagine how I'll go with a covid test.... pass out most likely.

[mhh__]

That sounds like the caveman instincts kicking in.

[poupanka]

I really don't like moths and their unpredictable flight patterns.

[3grdlurker]

The video left me with a feeling of reverent astonishment about how beautiful our planet really is. Such a shame that we’re destroying it.

[mholt]

The whole Ant Lab channel is really fascinating, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbOzYMKROs8

[Aissen]

This is incredibly nice, but I kept wondering how it looked like in real time. 6000 fps is a lot, so how much is it slowed down ? 100x ? (6000 -> 60 fps?)

[skipnup]

Standard videos on YouTube are 30fps, so it should be 200× slower.

[kevincox]

I agree. I find it so strange when people talk about the frame rate. The is a product of filming and doesn't directly matter to the viewer. To the viewer I care what the slowdown is. Presumably it is 6000/30 which is 200x slower, but it doesn't actually say anywhere that I can find.

I guess bigger number is better click-bait?

[fooqux]

There's a surprising amount of dust and what look to be "moth bits" flying around during take off. Between that, and the old admonishment from parents not to touch the wings or it'll knock off the dust they need to fly, I'm left wondering if moths only have a certain number of flaps in them before they can no longer fly. Since it's their last stage before death, I could see the evolutionary advantage to not wasting resources healing / replenishing your wings. Something to read about later.

[soheil]

I noticed this too. It goes to show how wasteful and unrepairable nature can be at times. Leaves and flowers also fit the bill. Maybe Apple shouldn't be blamed so easily for making something that is becoming more and more perishable without being able to be repaired. After all nature does it too. As long as they do a good job recycling also like nature does.

[frosted-flakes]

You can also see some small rips and tears in their wings.

[anonymousisme]

Just when you think they're harmless, you learn about this: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224879785_The_moth_...

I heard stories about these from some of my unfortunate co-workers who went to Kourou for Ariane launch campaigns.

[codedeadlock]

This is mind-boggling, to think how the flight is almost perfect, I could not even imagine how evolution could work such wonders considering this is a 6000 fps shot. This is some insane level optimization for my brain to understand

Absolutely lovely!

[jakear]

Semi-related, moth larvae (in my case Wooly Bears) are astonishingly intelligent. Put in a challenge arena they immediately begin a beam search and will learn over time what paths are futile, which require further exploration, how to pass particular obstacles, etc. They also have the ability to id humans and will "warm up" to individuals over a session of exposure.

Unfortunately this memory does not seem to persist long term -- after a day passes all it all resets. I was hoping a friendly Wolly would turn into a friendly tiger moth, but that does not seem likely based on my observations. I ended up releasing my Wolly back to the wild, he appeared to lose will when placed in captivity and I couldn't bring myself to keep him that way given my observations of his intelligence.

[ctrlp]

Love stuff like this. Always reminds me of the classic film Microcosmos.[0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosmos_(film)

[berkes]

Fascinating to see some of the moths having ripped and scratched wings. And despite that, still flying just fine.

If a human-made aircraft had a tear in a wing like that, it would probably just crash, let alone be properly navigable.

[kleiba]

Norm MacDonald's moth joke is pretty much OT but then again... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxD3pT8C9-A

[cies]

Reminded me of this video (music clip for: Vitalic - Birds):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=651UYYxrfh0

[stef25]

That's incredible. I'll do my best never to kill one again.

[barcoder]

Super slow motion videos of tiny creatures are absolute gold for animators.

Seeing the giant flappy wings lift the moths body gave me helpful insights and really inspired me.

[NHQ]

We could design human flight like that, what are we waiting for? Literally self-powered flight; human pedals, the A.I. directs the flap mechanism.

[fnord77]

really curious how the creator of this was able to get such good depth of field with what seems like a macro setup.

[dmos62]

The linked article, as well as the article it's linking to, are just thin wrappers around this Ant Lab video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQL25_hoQ1k

[hermitcrab]

Cool slo-mo. But they look pretty ungainly compared to the amazing flying skills of dragonflies.