r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/The_Love-Tap • 8h ago
Video An incredible variety of moths attracted to an illuminated sheet. This technique is called light sheeting
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u/wild_reach2099 7h ago
Spiders be like “send me your location bro”
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u/xombae 6h ago
Yeah I'm wondering how they prevent these moths from being predated while they wait for them to show up.
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u/ClockworkBetta 6h ago
The one time I went when the local moth people put up sheets, there was a very fat, happy spider munching on a moth at the bottom of the sheet
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u/Young_Kennedy 7h ago
Moths are underrated. They're just as beautiful as Butterflies.
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u/Weak-Differences 7h ago
Moths are just night butterflies.
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u/Liquidmetal7 7h ago
That's literally how they are called in french: Papillon de nuit.
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u/grimeyduck 5h ago
Papillon deez nuts
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u/AbeRego 4h ago
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u/CodeSalamander 4h ago
The internet. Always delivering when I least want it to.
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u/DesiBwoy 6h ago
Correction - Butterflies are day Moths. Butterfly families evolved from Moths. All Butterflies are Moths but not all moths are butterflies.
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u/husky0168 5h ago
in Indonesian, "night butterflies" is a slang for prostitutes.
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u/Comrade_Falcon 7h ago
Butterflies stay out of my shit. Moths always end up in the house flitting around right up in my face. Butterflies stay in their lane.
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u/Endless_Zen 5h ago
Not only this. Moths are also fat. If butterfly has a body of an ant the moth has a body of some hairy larvae. And I don't want that on my hand.
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u/admirantes 2h ago
Holy shit. My exact feelings exactly. I can't even think about squashing them since I don't ever want to see the aftermath, but I also don't want them anywhere near me. So whenever one gets inside I have to commit to catching it and releasing it as carefully as possible.
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u/LilaTheMoo 7h ago
I uses to hate them because I have a horrible fear of flying bugs. Then one day I round myself realizing "Moths can be Goth" and this absurdly stupid thought completely rewrote a longheld fear of moths and butterflies.
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u/CrotalusHorridus 6h ago
Moths are just Goth butterflies
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u/LilaTheMoo 6h ago
Which, in my humble alt opinion, makes them better than butterflies. I mean, just look, they're fuzzier than butterflies and make silk! Clearly S-tier flying bug, while chud butterflies are like a low B, high C tier.
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u/TremendouslyRegarded 7h ago
Always made me wonder how some people can easily let a butterfly land on them and admire them but any other bug besides maybe a ladybug is instant freak out
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u/TomboyKnight1 7h ago
Honestly they're prettier imo. Moths are cute and fuzzy but butterflies are more like fruit flies with bigger wings
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u/birdingwithgoats 7h ago
Totally underrated! There's over 160,000 species of moths, compared to 20,000 butterfly species.
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u/GAN_gamer15 5h ago
They really are, I think they’re beautiful!
Also, they are basically night shift bees (roughly 33% of total pollination is done by moths)
So don’t just protect the bees, protect the moths as well :)→ More replies (1)6
u/MeltyCrab 5h ago
Friendly reminder: Butterflies are AFTER moths. Moths came first and are the OG fluffy flappy buggo. Butterflies came after them in the evolutionary timeline :D
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u/jspeed04 4h ago
Moths are awesome creatures. I know they can’t hurt anyone, quite literally.
But I don’t know why the larger delta/triangular shaped ones make me more uneasy from a visceral perspective than the even larger butterfly wing shaped one.
I am weird.
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u/SirHenderson 2h ago
This might sound weird, but the uneasy feeling for me comes from imagining what it would be like to hold one in your hand firmly (not to kill it). Something about a bug having a thick bulbous body feels so wrong since we’re conditioned as kids that bugs are small and thin. If that makes sense
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u/nuevacuentanueva 4h ago
Butterflies are overrated. They're just as ugly as Moths.
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u/Dr-McLuvin 7h ago
That Luna moth is fucking huge.
I found one last year in my front yard but it wasn’t quite that big. Still coolest thing ever.
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u/__i_dont_know_you__ 7h ago
They're beautiful but they make me uncomfortable for some reason. Actually that statement describes this entire video for me.
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u/Old_Imagination4274 7h ago
Moths also make me uncomfortable. Mainly because if they're inside they are prone to flying into your face if you have your phone in a dark room, and Luna Moths being near death freaks me out cause I don't like dead bugs.
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u/That-Warrior9511 6h ago
I don't like dead bugs in general. Moths and even butterflies, both dead and alive, make me uncomfortable. I do admire seeing them from a distance though.
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u/__i_dont_know_you__ 5h ago
We’ve also had pantry moths in the past so I imagine that’s part of it. I think they’re cool in theory but their lifecycle creeps me out and something about them - especially the gigantic ones - is unnerving.
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u/RosemaryCroissant 1h ago
This is it for me. Even as a kid, moths have been my least favorite bug. Because- they’ll fly right at your face. Other bugs try to avoid people and that helps- but moths in a dark room will dive bomb your face and it’s terrifying.
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u/bozoconnors 6h ago
mottephobia - if it includes butterflies, lepidopterophobia! Say that five times real fast.
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u/Laiko_Kairen 5h ago
I'll have you know I did say it out loud 5 times real fast
But only after messing it up 3-4x
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u/b3tamaxx 7h ago
Maybe Mothra wasn't such a crazy concept
Edit. Oops meant for the person one above you
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u/Strattex 7h ago
If you see one, it’s incredibly rare. They only live 7-10 days. No Digestive system…
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u/I_REALLY_LIKE_BIRDS 7h ago
I'd never seen one in my entire life until I found a little green caterpillar crawling around on my porch. I wasn't planning on keeping it, but there was a big storm coming so I put it in a plastic container with some leaves, and it immediately began building a cocoon. So at that point I was like, well now I have to be responsible for this thing, if I put it somewhere unsafe I'll hate myself. I had given up on it hatching until one morning I opened the container to mist the cocoon and there was a whole, bright green luna moth in there. I cried when I let him go that night, it was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced.
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u/Angry_Artichoke_0823 7h ago
The large brown one looks like a Hercules moth, one of the three largest along with Luna and Atlas
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u/shishaboob 6h ago
There is no Luna moth on the sheet. The largest one at the bottom right is a hercules moth, native to New Guinea and Northern Australia. The Luna moth is native to North America, so it would have to fly quite a ways to be present for this video.
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u/PM_Me_Modal_Jazz 7h ago
I've never understood why the moths don't just leave when they realize there's nothing there
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u/SomeShithead241 7h ago
Because they are confused. Moths aren't attracted to light, they navigate by it. Primarily by the moon or other stellar bodies. So when humans come around with their bright lights that drown out starlight and are much much closer so it fucks with their instincts, they have trouble navigating.
It's like trying to navigate with a compass next to a magnet.
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u/LyingForTruth 6h ago
They should close their eyes and navigate by smell
Because that thing must smell like sheet9
u/barrsftw 4h ago
I know this is a joke, but they probably are evolving to do this very thing. It'll just take millions of years lol
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u/Common-Concentrate-2 7h ago
This is like asking why people don't stop eating cake when it's clear that cake will not fill the void in their soul
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u/Spare-Dingo-531 7h ago
They have no abstract representation. They're not smart enough. It's just instinct to them.
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u/Doodiecarrier 7h ago
"This technique is called light sheeting"
So, like, just pointing a flashlight at a bed sheet?
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u/Real_Impression_5567 7h ago
In doing some light sheeting now as I scroll reddit
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u/kyngslinn 7h ago
You the kinda person to be like: why is it called 'walking' and not 'moving your leg muscles to move from one place to another'
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u/thewebspinner 7h ago
Where does the word walk come from though?
Doesn’t have anything to do with legs, feet, ankles etc. might as well be called extra low flying with ground contact.
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u/PunsGermsAndSteel 7h ago
The art of walking was named after its inventor, Christopher Walken.
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u/drunkcowofdeath 7h ago
Invented in 1974 when he was moving his leg muscles to move from one place to another and a police officer said "Hey, who are you and what are doing?" and he replied:
"I'm Walken, here."
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u/DigNitty Interested 7h ago
I remember this. Everyone thinks it happened in New York, but it actually happened in Papua New Guinea and everyone was very confused.
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u/BacksightForesight 7h ago
Oddly enough, Walken is apparently correct!
“walk(v.)
"travel on foot," c. 1200, walken, a merging and sense-shift of two verbs: 1. Old English wealcan "to toss, roll, move round" (past tense weolc, past participle wealcen), and 2. wealcian "to roll up, curl." Both are from Proto-Germanic \welk-* (source also of Old Norse valka "to drag about," Danish valke "to full" (cloth), Middle Dutch walken "to knead, press, full" (cloth), Old High German walchan"to knead," German walken "to full"), and perhaps ultimately from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve."”→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)6
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u/Goodemi 7h ago
When that burrito hits and you aren't as close to the toilet as you'd wished.
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u/username__0000 3h ago
A white wall works too.
A campground I was at had this set up and it was fun to stop by on the way to the bathroom to visit with the moths.
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u/DesiBwoy 6h ago
For a wildlife nerd like me, this is heaven. I could spend weeks photographing them and identifying their species and learning quirky and cool things about them.
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u/Victizes 6h ago
They are fascinating aren't they?
Somehow they make my survival instincts activate when they are too near, but aside from that they are fascinating to me.
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u/wolfy2526 7h ago
Despite how colorful and diverse they are, I have a phobia of moths. Unfortunately, this video makes my skin crawl 😭 They're so dusty and disgusting
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u/Sam5FrodoB 7h ago
Same I hate moths
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u/Victizes 6h ago
I don't hate moths, but for some reason my survival instincts activate when I'm near them.
Bigger fast bugs normally do that to me.
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u/Laiko_Kairen 5h ago
It's how unpredictable they are, and how unknowable their minds are. Like, with dogs you can read their emotions pretty easily. Even lizards, they're at least a bit predictable
Moths, though? Totally random movements. And in the air, too, so obstacles don't necessarily deter them.
At least that's what it is for me
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u/Thema03 6h ago
They fly straight to our faces for no reason at all.
It's so embarrassing but when i see one i instantly duck in fear of them.
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u/Victizes 5h ago
I know right, fam? I can't help it when they start acting crazy, when that happens my brain goes haywire.
But I find them beautiful anyways. I hope you become more resistant to fear over time bro.
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u/Sextus_Rex 4h ago
One night I was camping with some friends and some big bug flew past the lantern while we were playing cards. Freaked me out but we kept playing. Couple minutes later something with weight impacted my leg. I looked down and my shorts were covered in dust.
I've hated moths ever since, they make my skin crawl
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u/Aethesis 4h ago
I love butterflies, moths can be pretty too, and despite this I want neither of them within 20 feet of me minimum. I'm glad to not feel so alone about my fear of moths rn 😭
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u/bbbbears 4h ago
Oh god, I’m the same. I just get the absolute creeps and scream and run. I feel so stupid! But it’s like, primal idk.
Not sure if it was because one time a moth flew down my shirt and I couldn’t get it out, and it was just bashing around and around ughhhh I don’t even like thinking about it
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u/Sam5FrodoB 3h ago
I used to work shift work in an unconditioned office, at night it would get so hot I'd be forced to open a window... Anyway one night shift I fell asleep (half way through my shift) and a moth the size of a bat smacked me in the face. Yes I see the irony but I've always hated the bastards after that
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u/NoteBlock08 4h ago
I legit recoiled at the close-up of the massive one at the bottom. Beautiful wings, but god I do not like bugs.
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u/InvictvsNox 7h ago
I would love this. Moths are so cute and pretty. Not sure why people dislike this.
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u/inarhtimol 7h ago
Because their flight is not predictable and they end up in your face / killing themselves on a lamp in a terrible sound
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u/Toadfish91 6h ago
Is not liking the irregular flight pattern a thing? I feel the same way
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u/inarhtimol 6h ago
I suppose it's some sort of evolutionary thing that we don't want insect going into our eyes/orifices. I think it's the same thing why we don't give a shit about ladybugs but we hate cockroach, if you look at them closely they aren't much different but one has a predictable flight and is slow and the other one doesn't. I would love if an entomologist here had some sort of explanation :)
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u/AsstBalrog 6h ago edited 5h ago
I suppose it's some sort of evolutionary thing that we don't want insect going into our *
eyes/*orifices.Speak for your branch of the tree...
More seriously, though, you raise a good point about ladybugs and roaches. I used to have a natural fish tank, including a 1" snapping turtle. He ignored most things, just didn't move at all, until I dumped in the 1" crayfish I had seined up.
His head swiveled, his gaze locked on one, and from then on, until he had killed them all, he was on an unflinching mission. Something about their shape or the movement of their gills or legs spoke to his reptilian (hah!) brain.
It kind of reminded me of the first Alien movie. John Hurt goes onto the alien ship, and he encounters those pods or whatever. The cover slides back, and there is this movement, exceedingly well done by the SFX team, this irregular, flickering motion that just signals "biological" or "life." I think something like that was what my turtle was responding to.
Anyway, I'm saying that you're probably right about the evo thing, but it's more fine grained than you suggest. Somehow roaches signal disgust or danger, but those cute widdle beetles do not.
Source: Not an entomologist
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u/kyngslinn 7h ago
My ass would be too paranoid to film or get this close. Imagine the guy behind you pushing and sending you falling right into that sheet.
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u/MACHOmanJITSU 7h ago
Obligatory Norm McDonald moth joke https://youtube.com/shorts/OihZE4eXuig?si=gSTITOzoGz4wGv_p
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u/The_Love-Tap 7h ago
Here are some of the moths seen in the video
Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas): Visible clearly at the bottom left (0:00–0:01) and again in detail at the bottom (0:19–0:21). Recognized by its massive size, reddish-brown wings, and distinctive hooked wingtips with snake-head mimicry patterns.
Imperial Moth / Yellow Saturniid (Eacles imperialis / Eacles sp.): Prominently featured in close-ups (0:10–0:11, 0:24). Easily identified by its bright yellow wings adorned with brownish-purple spots and wave-like markings.
Sphinx / Hawk Moths (Family Sphingidae): Large, aerodynamic, grey and dark-brown moths seen in close-up segments (0:08–0:09, 0:23, 0:26–0:27), characterized by sleek, pointed wings held close to the body.
Luna / Moon Moths (Actias species): Pale green, long-tailed moths visible scattered across the sheet (0:13–0:14, 0:23).
Geometer and Tiger Moths (Families Geometridae & Erebidae): Dozens of smaller yellow, orange, white-spotted, and patterned brown moths coating the sheet surface.
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u/Angry_Artichoke_0823 7h ago
Atlas moths dont usually have those long tails, I thought it was a Hercules moth
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u/PyramidicContainment 6h ago
It's an AI summary so you can safely ignore at least half of the info there
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u/Angry_Artichoke_0823 6h ago
Thank you, I suspected as much after I re-read it and rewatched the video, I'm pretty sure there aren't any Luna moths in the video either lol
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u/The_Dynasty_Warrior 7h ago
As I get older I get to appreciate the beauty of nature and the diversity within species
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u/LGGP75 7h ago
So… why do moths are attracted to light?
If you take humans off the picture, there is no light at night, so why do they behave like this?
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u/Rolly_09 7h ago
İf i remember correctly part of it is they navigate with position of the sun(the shiniest source present) relative to their orientation.
Compared to sun a synthetic light source stands way closer distrupting their orientation on flight and confusing them. They kinda end up orbiting and getting closer to it.
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u/spezial_ed 7h ago
While travelling in Thailand, we forgot to turn off the light and ceiling fan - came home to prob thousands of moths either chopped to pieces or flying about in our bungalow. My friends started trying to catch them all, and I just turned off the light and put a flashlight under the door un the outside, so it lit up the gap under the door. 2 minutes later, completely moth free.
My smartest moment ever-
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u/Inexorably_lost 5h ago edited 2h ago
Spider, in it's empty web just out of frame, looking super jealous.
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u/merpixieblossomxo 1h ago
This is terrifying. I don't know why butterflies are fine to me but moths are every nightmare of mine come to life, but that would give me a fucking heart attack to witness.
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u/WakingOwl1 4h ago
We did that one year for the annual Biodiversity survey and identified fifty kinds of moths.
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u/VeganMortgageAdviser 7h ago
I was not expecting the Death Star of moths to suddenly appear. That was huge!
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u/robo-dragon 7h ago
I’m doing this over my camping trip this weekend and I’m so excited! Some insects only come out at night so it’s a great way to see the hidden diversity in your area. Hoping to see some beautiful moths this weekend!
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u/TheLurkerSpeaks 7h ago
I did this in 2004 as part of my entomology class. I did not know this was a technique already in place, I just devised the system myself and it worked really well. Attracted lots more than just moths. Bonus was I had four different spiders build webs right there so they ended up feasting, too.
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u/MountainMojoMan 6h ago
Wow, this is remarkable and awesome... curious as to where in the world this was filmed?
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u/3CatsOneLitterbox 6h ago
My cat just fainted looking at this...he would lose his mind over all these moths haha.He's the ultimate bug hunter in the house.
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u/FitPreparation2884 7h ago
Anybody know where this is? So many different moths. I’m curious where such a variety exists