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Moths in slow motion [video]

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Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#101

Post by mc32 »

fhe wrote: post #53
gamerDude wrote: post #17

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…

> "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.

It’s probably due to slowing it down by 4000x.

When the slow the windup of a baseball pitcher it also looks ungraceful.

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#102

Post by mattnewton »

fhe wrote: post #53
gamerDude wrote: post #17

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…

> "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.

It could also be due to the way some insect musculature works, they typically don't have the same extension/contraction methods we have by pulling on either side of a bone, which doesn't work in an exoskeleton. My understanding is that they instead rely on a combination of flexors and vascular pressure to extend which is a jerkier-looking process. See the muscle section here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_physiology

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#104

Post by soheil »

fooqux wrote: post #89

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 r…

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.

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#105

Post by flycaliguy »

soheil wrote: post #104
fooqux wrote: post #89

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 r…

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.

Sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean by leaves and flowers being wasteful. I’m open minded but doubtful that this can be the case.

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#106

Post by DonaldFisk »

pcurve wrote: post #23
gamerDude wrote: post #17

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…

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

It's the hairs of hairy caterpillars (and, rarely, hairs on some adult moths) which cause dermatitis, rather than scales on adult moths' wings, so its wise to avoid contact with hairy caterpillars. For a list of species to avoid, see https://ccsuniversity.ac.in/bridge-library/pdf/Biology-Paras...

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#107

Post by DonaldFisk »

blitzar wrote: post #51
SiVal wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Given what moths have done to every piece of cashmere I own it would be a fitting revenge.

The larvae of only a few species attack clothes, these ones in particular:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tineola_bisselliella

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpet_moth

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#108

Post by DonaldFisk »

eigenvalue wrote: post #103

I wonder what the purpose/benefit is of the holes in their wings from an aerodynamics standpoint. Maybe it helps them deal with sudden gusts of wind? It’s like having a hole in the bottom of a boat.

They aren't holes: they're areas of wings with no scales.

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#109

Post by 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.

Re: Moths in slow motion [video]

#110

Post by DonaldFisk »

berkes wrote: post #56
j7ake wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt moths will be gone after we’ve “destroyed” the planet. They survived before us and will survive after us. We are destroying the habitat for many large animals though.

We are destroying the habitat of a lot of moths too, though. Edit: but, indeed, quite probably not of the entire group. Many are specialists. In fact, moths are just butterflies, and what we call butterflies are specialists in being able to navigate by daylight. Some moths need very special plants for their time as catterpillar, others need very special flowers to drink from. Again others need a goldilock humidity or…

The number of moths in the UK has declined by 28% since 1968. There are various causes, including use of pesticides and other changes in agricultural practices, destruction of habitat, and anthropogenic climate change. See https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/why-moths-matter/mo...

> moths are just butterflies

It's more accurate to say that butterflies are a kind of day-flying moth, those belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea of the order Lepidoptera.

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