High-speed video reveals the surprising beauty of moth flight

If asked to describe a moth ’s escape , I doubt many of us would utilize an adjective like “ elegant . ” psychoneurotic ? Yes . Flap - happy ? perfectly . But years of see moth shift headlong into patio light and germ lamps have provide most of us with a decidedly unremarkable impression of these bugs ’ flying abilities .

But after watching these slow - motion videos of Manduca sexta — a large moth with flying skills commonly compare to those of hummingbirds — it ’s hard to imagine how anyone could distinguish this moth ’s aery ability as anything brusque of graceful ( even , as the video recording march , when it ’s being rain cats and dogs with miniature Henry Clay projectiles ) .

[ Science FridayviaFuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics ]