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Image lead: Ichneumonid wasp. Image credit: Dr Adrian Smith
Dr. Adrian Smith to be the leader Behavioral Research and Evolutionary Biology Laboratory at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University. Dr. Smith is also the creator of some amazing slow-motion videos of insects.
Earlier this year, we saw spring jump with an incredible 73,000 fps (fps) and intro video seven beautiful moths flying at 6,000 frames per second.
Dr. Smith returned with another video shot at 6,000 fps, this time showcasing the flight sequences of a variety of insects, including, in order of appearance, the leafhopper, the Chinese mantis , American bird locust, broad-headed scorpion, stink bug, ichneumonid wasp, brown and moth.
A viewer from Dr. Smith’s YouTube channel, Ant Lab, sent Smith a copy of the book’Born in the Wind: The Extraordinary World of Insects in Flight,‘ by Stephen Dalton. The book, which can be found in used condition online, was published in 1975 and features beautiful portraits of insects in flight. Dalton’s work is so impressive that some of his photographs have been recorded in gold records sent into space in Traveling space probe.
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| Cover of the book ‘Born on the Wind’ by Stephen Dalton. |
Dalton used a specially designed flash that fires at 1/25,000 sec and uses a custom built electronic shutter. Today, Dr. Smith has access to high-tech Phantom cameras, high-tech lenses and state-of-the-art lighting solutions. However, Dr. Smith wanted to honor Dalton’s original style. In order to have more insects in one frame, Dr Smith edited several photos taken together, as he has done in some of his previous works, which can be seen below.
For more excellent work by Dr. Smith, see website and his YouTube channel, Ant Lab.
Image credits: Image used with permission of Dr. Adrian Smith.
