Extraordinary Portraits of Insects in Flight

A viewer sent me a copy of "Borne on the wind: The extraordinary world of insects in flight" which, in 1975, published photos of insects in mid-air flight. So, I filmed a bunch of insect flight sequences in a style inspired by the insect portraits in that book!

All of these sequences were filmed at 6,000 frames per second. Most play back at 30fps, but some are edited to play back faster. Multiple captures are edited together so that more than one insect appears on-screen at the same time.

00:00 - flatid planthopper
00:30 - intro
01:13 - Chinese mantis
01:42 - American bird grasshopper
02:21 - broad-headed sharpshooter
02:48 - stink bug
03:27 - ichneumonid wasp
03:57 - brown lacewing
04:40 - tiger moth

[MadCat-]

I have been photographing insects and arachnids since 2010, exclusively natural photos on the living object.
I can halfway understand how time-consuming and nerve-wracking it can be to get the film sequences as desired. Thank you for the great shots!

[Mac_Diddy]

Hey, I’m not sure if you work with arachnids at all but I recently found a jumping spider outside and the way their jumps look almost instant made me really curious to see it in slow motion.

[radayar]

Insects are so cute and their flight is some kind of art performance

[djlclopez]

I used to be terrified of all bugs before I met my husband, who loves insects and spiders, and knows more about them than your average entymologist! I am still scared of larger bugs, but he has shown me that you shouldn't squash bugs just because they're there. I see the beauty in bugs because of him. So thanks for making up close bug videos, it helps people admire insects instead of being scared.

[youbigtubership]

These are quite entrancing snippets of film. The critters have so much personality and style!

[beautyforashes]

Your footage is amazing and so revealing. We get to see something in a way that we could never see it before. And with you doing your filming against a black background, it does really help those hidden colors to pop out. Which makes your footage of the insects all the more beautiful. And I'm so glad to hear that your channel is growing. I think you will get much bigger than this, just wait and see. Thank you for sharing all your hard work with us. 😊👍

[radman]

So beautiful and serene. These videos remind me of the beauty of the natural world and how inconsequential my problems and worries are

[dawnmichelle]

I used to chase the grasshoppers when I was a kid. Never knew they have a spring-loaded donkey kick! So cool! Thank you for these beautiful films. 🥰

[strawby]

The black background really lets you appreciate the stunning iridescence of their wings! Absolutely gorgeous!

[tracybowling]

I love the Mantis feet. Swinging back and forth as she flies like a little kid on a swing. Having the time of her life. So cute! And you def fulfilled your goal of making the most awesome bug flight videos. They are so fun to watch and so breathtakingly beautiful! WTG Sir!

[inasimon]

Wonderful is the best word to discribe the incredible biodivesity of insects! How colourful, how complex!

[ombekende]

more bugs!! i love these videos so much, they're really interesting for art references too ^^

[sharkofjoy]

part of the 1% of the internet that deserves to exist and furthers human knowledge. Love these

[Shnarfbird]

My favorite insects to see in slow-motion like this are those with elytra, it's fun to see the wings unfold

[vomm]

I can't get enough of your videos, it's so interesting to see all the details and vibrant colors. You really put a lot of effort into this, it's not only science but art.

[hamfranky]

Love those stinkbugs. Really putting in all the effort to get going.

[jfnuyen]

It always amazes me just how fantastic nature's creatures are. I never knew just how intricate the flight function of these insects was until you filmed examples of said function with your techniques. Quite incredible.

[borisstarosta]

I am fascinated by how imperfect the movements and the flights are. These creatures are like little machines that are designed to just barely meet a minimum of performance, and no more!

[Charlotte.M.S]

Your commentary really adds to the video, I really enjoyed the backgroud info about flightpatterns and springloaded knees and similarities between related groups.

[takuitoh]

These insects are incredibly amazing! What a mystical sight you caught in every moment in this very video!