Moths taking off at 6000 frames per second against a purple background
October 8, 2021 1:00 AM   Subscribe

 
Cool videos. I did not realise moths were so fluff-balled.

That first moth, trying to take off, alarmingly resembles me trying to leave the table after a cheese fondue party.
posted by Wordshore at 2:06 AM on October 8, 2021 [14 favorites]


I had never really thought of moths as cute before, but now I do. Like little flying teddy bears!
posted by pangolin party at 2:06 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


This is so beautiful that it made me feel emotional!
posted by ukdanae at 2:48 AM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


Fantastic ! Thank you !
posted by nicolin at 3:02 AM on October 8, 2021


thanks for this! i now want to tickle moths on their fluffy bellies!
posted by tarantula at 4:16 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


thanks for this! i now want to tickle moths on their fluffy bellies!
posted by tarantula at 9:16 PM on October 8


I'm on to you.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:41 AM on October 8, 2021 [29 favorites]


I didn’t realize moths had legs. I mean, obviously they do, since they are insects, but I’d never really seen them before, and had no idea that they used them to propel their flight.

This video gives me the same frisson-y feeling I get when I watch time lapse videos that show the imperceptibly slow, but seemingly sentient movement of plants: I feel like I’m being transported to a parallel dimension. There are so many fascinating worlds layered among our own world, and it’s such a treat to get a glimpse of them.
posted by chara at 5:02 AM on October 8, 2021 [5 favorites]


Pretty much everything on the Ant Lab youtube channel is worth watching, if people want more slow-motion insect goodness. Most of the insects are less fluffy, admittedly, but still fab.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 5:02 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


I kept thinking about how much light this much have taken to film. It’s a lot!
posted by aubilenon at 5:27 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


This is beautiful! Thank you for posting it!
posted by jquinby at 5:27 AM on October 8, 2021


Yip yip!
posted by sixswitch at 5:33 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


Both of its wings have transparent windows
whoa.
While some moths might be pink and yellow, others have mohawks and fluffy leg warmers
lol, yes I love them.
posted by Glinn at 5:43 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


Some of these moths are looking at the camera like "I don't know how it works either, pal."
posted by zompist at 5:49 AM on October 8, 2021 [12 favorites]


I remember seeing a video of different tree hoppers taking flight, and how many of them looked like they had barely passed Driver's Ed. Looks like these buds have a similar issue!
posted by rebent at 6:02 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


I remember reading somewhere how the wings touching (or almost touching) at the top of the stroke is one way that animals which are a little on the heavy side for flying create a super-low-pressure zone above them that helps lift them up. As the wings go into the downstroke, a low-pressure vortex rolls down the upper surface of the wings, helping create extra lift.

I think I might've read it about pigeons, but it looks like the moths are doing it, too.
posted by clawsoon at 6:36 AM on October 8, 2021 [4 favorites]


These videos make it look less like moths fly and more like moths hurtle themselves indiscriminately into the air and hope they don't land too soon.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:56 AM on October 8, 2021 [9 favorites]


That pink and yellow rosy maple moth is a real mood. I can barely even manage basic movement too, moth.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:35 AM on October 8, 2021 [4 favorites]


+1 for cute and fluffy moths close up.

-20 for lack of tiny singing Japanese women.
posted by hanov3r at 7:58 AM on October 8, 2021 [8 favorites]


This was lovely!
posted by Zargon X at 8:04 AM on October 8, 2021


I feel so clunky in comparison. Next time: wings!
posted by mochapickle at 8:44 AM on October 8, 2021


Bonus points for the wood nymph pulling an Immelman right from take off.
posted by LionIndex at 8:48 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


Thanks so much! Provided they're not trying to eat my knitting, I love moths.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:42 AM on October 8, 2021


I didn’t realize moths had legs

and they never, ever, skip leg day apparently
posted by elkevelvet at 9:43 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


beautiful. thanks for sharing!
posted by rude.boy at 10:12 AM on October 8, 2021


Chonky fluff tubes.
posted by minervous at 10:24 AM on October 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


It really is amazing that some of them manage to fly!
posted by tavella at 10:48 AM on October 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


That first one looked like it was testing the wind direction, miscalculated, and was about to crash as soon as it got aloft. Abort, abort!
posted by mikeand1 at 11:25 AM on October 8, 2021


It makes me happy how admiring the common people names for many moths are. Mostly ignored or mocked "moth to a flame", but the people who look at them see them as glorious.

Great film, great post, thank you!
posted by clew at 11:41 AM on October 8, 2021


like moths hurtle themselves indiscriminately into the air and hope they don't land too soon

Jacquilynne, it's like they are clearly throwing themselves at the ground and missing!
posted by scolbath at 12:23 PM on October 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


I love how the rosy maple moth is just sort of languidly gesturing with one foreleg at the beginning, as if to say, "Sabine, darling, do cue up the "Flower Duet" from Lakmé--I believe that I shall take to the air."
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:34 PM on October 8, 2021 [4 favorites]


…a video of different tree hoppers taking flight, and how many of them looked like they had barely passed Driver's Ed.

British photographer Stephen Dalton’s high-speed flash photo of a leafhopper gracefully leaping into the air looks like a tiny Nijinsky. See more of Dalton’s amazing flying insects at the Nature Picture Library, and in his 1975 book Borne On The Wind – The Extraordinary World of Insects In Flight [cover].
posted by cenoxo at 10:46 PM on October 8, 2021


Clint has a handful of moths and a big grin! Learn about pet care with Clint and guest host Matt "Let's talk about the nerdiest of my hobbies" Jepson on Giant Silk Moth, the best pet insect?
The expression on Clint's face when one of them flies off is priceless. Obviously, his menagerie of lizards and snakes are elsewhere, or this would have been all carnage and chaos. Also, Matt has his own love of slithery things as showcased on his FB page.
posted by TrishaU at 5:41 AM on October 9, 2021


Very cool and lovely to see all the details! Hard agree with the comments that at 6000fps it kind of looks like these moths don’t actually know how to fly.

Have we had a post about this guy in the past? This seems very familiar (not crying “double” or anything).
posted by obfuscation at 5:49 AM on October 9, 2021


I love moths. In flight, they always look like they are just barely hanging on to some sense of attitude control, like the poor novice skier who accidentally goes down the black diamond run, or like tiny little Launchpad McQuacks.
posted by xedrik at 7:21 AM on October 9, 2021


Both of its wings have transparent windows

Yeah, those are a security feature that make successful counterfeiting harder.
posted by flabdablet at 9:11 AM on October 9, 2021 [4 favorites]


at 6000fps it kind of looks like these moths don’t actually know how to fly

At 6000fps I imagine most of us would be hard pressed to look as if we could find our arses with both hands.
posted by flabdablet at 7:07 AM on October 10, 2021


Challenge accepted
posted by cynical pinnacle at 4:17 PM on October 10, 2021


I’ve already failed that challenge. In high speed photography I can’t focus on the water I expected to be coming towards me, or move my hand directly to it. Also expressions sort of wobble around within the flesh of my face as though being slapped into putty.
posted by clew at 5:55 PM on October 10, 2021


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