Dragonflies hunt by predicting the future

Join me in pursuit of one of the coolest critters anywhere (but I seem to have an abundance of them here in NC) - Dragonflies!

In this video I'm breaking down dragonfly flight with a high-speed camera. Dragonflies are some pretty incredible insects, and the way they fly (or more accurately - the multiple ways they fly!) are fascinating. I hope you enjoy this journey to film, then understand, dragonfly flight in my backyard.

Check out the second channel with bonus content and Q&A videos!

Special thanks to my top Patreon supporters!
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Media Credits:

YouTube Music License

Rossini - William Tell Overture (by Rossini).mp3
YouTube Music License

[AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Corrections and FAQ in this comment!
Hey everybody! Welcome to the comments section. This was a fun one to make - hope you enjoyed it!
Corrections etc:
1) wanted to specify - that acceleration is per axis, but since the net acceleration is at a diagonal, you actually need to do some Pythagoras to get the vector sum - the peak overall accelerations were 5-6g!
2) all the slomo clips here were filmed at 1491 fps because that’s the max framerate at a nominal 4k for my camera. I played them all back at 30 fps, except for one of the tracking landing shots that’s doubled to 60fps playback I think.
3) I totally forgot to add links to the papers I referenced! Can’t believe that! They’ll be in the description when I get home after work and can assemble the whole list.
4)

[wilsonarno]

13:29 is a cinematic masterpiece! The small fly charging along, and then suddenly the dragonfly from below really makes me appreciate how terrifying dragonflies are to these smaller insects. The music was just the cherry on top!

[rileyparish]

Does anyone else get the sense that Brian would be doing this kind of stuff even without a YouTube channel? He's not optimizing for the algorithm or pumping out flashy stunts to grab attention, he's genuinely just filming himself doing stuff he's interested in and sharing it with us. It's refreshing :)

[JD-qqfz]

Oh man recently I was sitting in a lake surrounded by dragonflies who were keeping all the pests away, contemplating how cool an open world dragonfly action rpg would be, whippin around hunting flies with sick time dilation and flight effects... damn dragonflies are awesome

[Hz]

Perfect timing of a video for me :) was just teaching my son how to hover-swim yesterday and we called the technique “dragonfly”. And he wanted to see a video of it flying :)

[Joetoep]

Man, what an amazing first-class national geographic video. I was invested in this video from the first till the last second.

[tonechild]

The way it nudges forward with each thrust in that slow shot, really shows how air is like a fluid

[JakubYTb]

0:46 - 0:51 ... every family visit ever :D

[dognoseranger]

"when's the last time you ate a meal in a tenth of a second?" That's probably the timing of "eating" bugs when I'm on a bike ride, granted there's no fancy approach vectors involved, just a bunch of over reactive hacking and spitting out of bug bits after the fact.

[JTCF]

The dragonfly landing really reminds me about spaceship landings in game Elite Dangerous. Classical music only strengthens that parallel.
Also, the way it reaches out with its legs is incredible as an idea of how articulated spaceship landing gear could work for landing or securing to a carrier ship. Insects are cool.

[mozkitolife]

Hi Alpha, I’m an entomologist so can’t wait to watch this. You’re the best.
Edit: Wow, phenomenal effort. Nature photography does take a lot of patience to capture the perfect shot. It’d be great to identify the species in your videos. Unfortunately it requires preserving specimens and studying the wing venation, amongst other characters. I wonder if trapping Calliphorids etc and tying a tether around its neck would work? They could be chilled to allow it.

[nikolaiturcan]

The coolest thing in my opinion was the Tracking and data analysis, that part gave much more insight than just cool videos!

[IscuAndrei]

And I thought I was obsessed by dragonflies. Thanks for quenching my thirst for dragonfly data :)

[barks]

EPIC! The setup, the science and your presentation! Loving it!

[SensSword]

0:37 "toy" is the correct terms. Calling it a "tool" is the terminology used when trying to convince one's wife it's a prudent purchase.

[PaulG.x]

14:00 This is amazing! The DF is gliding!
I have never heard of insects gliding before.
14:30 15:26 And the DF keeps its head fairly horizontal while banking through a turn.

[florianvancitters]

Those velocity graphs you build to detect the dragonfly's acceleration are super cool! I would have also loved to see the peak force, which given their mass mustn't be large - all the more amazing that such a small force leads to rapid and repeated acceleration!

[sogdyiv]

I know you probably get a lot of this, but dang do I appreciate the work you've put into this channel. It's fascinating stuff, and you keep me learning and wondering. Thanks!

[FrizzyAnimation]

As an animator, these slow mo shots are amazing references + plus it comes with a fascinating video

[royharkins]

Boom boom 😂 I saw a dragon attack a wasp a foot away from my eyes, it just bit off its head ! Apparently they use what is called “motion camouflage” truly amazing creatures that I love to watch for hours, thanks for a great show ❤