The Carolina mantis, mantisflies, a dusty wing, weevils! This Ant Lab video features 15 species across 5 insect orders taking off in slow motion—6,000 frames per second. Video chapters, shown along the bottom of the video, provide captions that name each species.
The insects are temporarily captured and filmed by research biologist Adrian Smith, head of the Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and an Assistant Research Professor at North Carolina State University.
He uses a harmless light trap, a blacklight near a sheet at night, to attract the insects for observation. The subjects were filmed over the course of five months.
“Nearly everything you’ll see in this video came to a light setup just like this. What I get the most out of making videos like this is a feeling of astonishment. There are just so many insects out there and what you see here is just a tiny little sliver.”
Other featured insects include the ambrosia beetle, the pleasing fungus beetle, the carrion beetle, two fire-coloured beetles with pectinate antennae, the net-winged beetle, whose landing is a bit surprising, a hoverfly and a tiger bee fly. And don’t forget the alderfly at the end.
Watch this next: How to make a light trap.
Then watch more Ant Lab videos on TKSST:
• Seven spectacular moths filmed taking off at 6,000 fps
• Weevils, katydids, an assassin bug, & other insects fly in slow-mo
• Insects Take Flight: Rare slow-motion footage from the Ant Lab
Bonus: Are globular springtails the fastest spinning animals on Earth?
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