Extraordinary Portraits of Insects in Flight Shot at 6,000 FPS

Dr. Adrian Smith publishes incredibly detailed examinations of insects in motion through his YouTube Channel Ant Lab. While he generally picks backdrops to compliment the colors of his subjects, this time he chose to mimic a more classic look.

His channel has featured a huge assortment of videos featuring a wide range of insects, some in flight, some jumping and shot at a blistering 73,000 frames per second, and others where he looks at specific species, like moths.

Dr. Smith says that he has two goals when he makes insect flight videos. First, he wants to film something new and capture insects in a way he doesn't think anyone has before. Second, he wants each of the videos to be visually different. He says that usually that is accomplished by experimenting with color in his filming set to complement and highlight the bodies of the insects.

But recently, someone sent Dr. Smith a book titled "Borne on the Wind" by Stephen Dalton. Published in 1975, it appears to be the first collection of detailed pictures of insects in unrestrained free flight.

"Photos from that series were seen as such an achievement that one was included on the gold record sent off to space on Voyager," Dr. Smith tells PetaPixel.

Some photos in the book are composites of multiple frames that show, in many cases, the motion of insects as they move through the air -- motion that is provided in spite of the fact they are still images.

Dr. Smith found that some of his favorite photos in the book used those multiple exposures of the insects that are isolated against the black background. Using the photos in the book as inspiration, he decided to recreate a similar set but capture the motion in 6,000 frames per second slow-motion video.

"To collect those first images a special flash that could fire at 1/25,000 of a second and an electronic shutter that had an opening time of 1/450 secibd had to be custom made. Nowadays, of course, a Phantom camera filming at 6,000 frames per second does the job of capturing similar image sequences," he says. "But, I try to honor the incredible effort that was put in to make those amazing first images with the sequences I captured in this video!"

In the video, Dr. Smith showcases eight total insects: the flatid planthopper, Chinese mantis, American bird grasshopper, broad-headed sharpshooter, stink bug, ichneumonid wasp, brown lacewing, and a tiger moth. Below are some freeze-frames from a few of those sequences, provided to PetaPixel by Dr. Smith:

For more from Dr. Smith, make sure to subscribe to his YouTube Channel.

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Calming 6,000 FPS Footage of 7 Stunningly Beautiful Moth Species

Dr. Adrian Smith regularly publishes unique looks at insects using high-speed cameras. In his latest video, Dr. Smith focuses his lens on seven stunningly beautiful species of moths and captures their movements at a blistering 6,000 frames per second.

Dr. Smith has published several videos in the past that use slow motion to reveal unusual movements by some of nature's tiniest creatures. He has published two separate videos that show what different insects look like as they take off, either by jumping or flying (or some combination of the two) as well as a video that features the fastest front-flipping insect and another that required shooting at 73,000 frames per second in order to reveal what exactly what taking place.

Compared to those previous videos, 6,000 frames per second might not seem like that much, but it is more than enough to reveal the subtle movements of the different moth species (from their wings to the smallest changes to other parts of their bodies). When combined with Dr. Smith's voice and a soothing musical backdrop, the result is a fascinating set of clips that is as informative as it is calming.

"I think all of science boils down to trying to do things in order to see and appreciate the world in a new way. Most of the time, that means doing experiments, gathering data, or adjusting hypotheses," Dr. Smith says. "But sometimes, I think the most useful thing I can do as a scientist is to point the fancy science cameras at some moths flapping their wings in front of a purple backdrop."

Rosy Maple Moth

When slowed to such an extent, an action that would normally blip by the human eye can be carefully examined. The plump little maple moth seems to almost wobble with an air of uncertainty, something that would not have been visible without the help of modern high-speed cameras.

The video contains seven different species of moths whose patterns and movements can be closely examined: the rosy maple moth (dryocampa rubicunda), the polyphemus moth (antheraea polyphemus), a dark marathyssa (marathyssa inficita), a Virginian tiger moth (spilpsoma virginica), a beautiful wood-nymph (Eudryas grata), the white-dotted prominent (nadata gibbosa), and a blinded sphinx (paonias exaecata).

Dark Marathyssa Polyphemus Moth Beautiful Wood Nymph

"I mean, whose day isn't going to be better after watching a pink and yellow rosy maple moth fly in super slow motion?"

In speaking with PetaPixel , Dr. Smith says that this collection of moths shot with this high frame rate isn't something he thinks exists elsewhere, which makes it a rare treat that he is happy to share with those interested to learn more about the insects of the world.

For more from Dr. Adrian Smith, make sure to subscribe to his Ant Lab YouTube Channel.

_Image credits: Photo by Dr. Adrian Smith and used with permission. _

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