These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.

Image source: nationalgeographic

2. Two-lined spittlebug

This insect, which comes from the eastern United States, is often seen as a pest because it likes to eat grass. Its springy back legs can make it jump into the air like a rocket.

Image source: nationalgeographic

3. Yellow-collared scape moth

Unlike most moths, this North American species flies during the day. Its shiny blue-black wings sparkle in the sunlight.

Image source: nationalgeographic

4. Ailanthus webworm moths

These tropical moths have spread farther north in the U.S. Because of their larval host, the invasive tree of heaven, they are now one of the most common backyard moths in the country.

Image source: nationalgeographic

5. Common stonefly

Mostly found in eastern North America, this insect starts its life as an underwater nymph in forested streams or rivers. Then it leaves the water, sheds its skin, and becomes an adult with wings.

Image source: nationalgeographic

6. Green lacewings

Eighty-seven species of this insect have been found in the U.S. and Canada. Since they eat a lot of unwanted plant pests like aphids and mites, they are often used to naturally control these pests.

Image source: nationalgeographic

7. Grapevine beetle

This insect, fittingly named, eats the leaves and fruit of grapevines, both wild and farmed, but it doesn’t do much damage to the plants. As a type of scarab beetle, it often flies in a curved path.

Image source: nationalgeographic

8. Oak treehopper and green treehopper

Treehoppers are known for their uniquely shaped pronotum, the part behind their head, which often looks like plant parts to hide from predators. They can jump well thanks to special muscles.

Image source: nationalgeographic

9. Banded orange

This brightly colored butterfly can be found from Mexico to Brazil. Before mating season, male butterflies look for mineral salts, sometimes even drinking salty fluids from the skin, eyes, and nostrils of other animals.

Image source: nationalgeographic

10. Sapho longwing

Longwings can live for 6 to 7 months, longer than most butterflies. This type, found from Mexico to Ecuador, has shiny blue wings, which is why it’s also called the Sapphire longwing.

Image source: nationalgeographic