The Ethereal Beauty of Moths Taking Off in Slow Motion

Adrian Smith of Ant Lab (previously), who is also a scientist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, captured the absolutely ethereal beauty of seven different moths as they took off to flight in slow motion against a purple background.

Take off flight sequences captured at 6,000 fps! All the moths in this video were collected and filmed in Cornish, NH between July 12 – 16. All moths were released after filming.

Here are the moths in order of appearance: Rosy maple mot, Polyphemus moth, Dark marathyssa, Virginian tiger moth, Beautiful wood-nymph, White-dotted prominent, and Blinded sphinx.

Rosy maple moth slow motion takeoff
Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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