Sunday, September 6, 2009

Insects in Motion



Biology graduate student Andrew Mountcastle is studying the wing flexibility of insect flight at the University of Washington so it was only natural for him call up the Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House for collaboration. Could he film some of our butterflies in flight with his high-speed color video cameras? Of course! Including his footage from our own Tropical Butterfly House, Andrew has created a series of short videos of various insects in flight. As part of his lab’s outreach program, they have allowed this video to be displayed outside the exhibit for visitors to enjoy as they wait in line.

You have to see these amazing slow motion videos to truly appreciate the mechanics of insect flight. If you can’t wait to visit the Tropical Butterfly House, go directly to Andrew’s website and view his QuickTime movies. You’ll never observe a dragonfly in fight – or a leaping frog in pursuit of a dragonfly - the same way again!

Pacific Science Center is grateful to the University of Washington Department of Biology Daniel Lab, Vision Research and Andrew Mountcastle for the production of this film.


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