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Alas Moths (mander.xyz)
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[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 98 points 2 months ago
[-] veroxii@aussie.zone 36 points 2 months ago

If I had 2 cobras watching my back I too would grow as big as I wanted without giving a shit.

[-] idunnololz@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago

Wtf that looks sick

[-] General_Shenanigans@lemmy.world 69 points 2 months ago

The crazy thing about this is not just how evolution reverse-engineered what a snake looks like to a bird (or whatever preys on this moth), but also that some birds are born with an image burned into their brains labeled “avoid.” Snakes are such a problem to animals that may also prey on this moth, that a moth was able, over millions of years of evolution, to mimic that image through selective pressure. We’re not seeing here a moth mimicking a snake, we are seeing a moth’s wings resembling the image its prey holds in its brain of what it should identify as its own predator. An image that, itself, is held genetically and passed down from animal to animal, built by its own selective pressure. It’s amazing that this could produce such a clear image that’s immediately recognizable to us.

[-] xenoclast@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Or to boil it down:the ones who's wings looked more like snakes had more babies cuz they're weren't dead.

[-] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 months ago

The ones whos wings looked like what their predators think a snake looks like survived more often.

[-] angrystego@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I'm not their predator and I think a snake looks like that too. I therefore think the image is pretty acurate.

[-] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 months ago

That means we see snakes similarly to the way their predators do.

From a different perspective, the bee mimic orchid only vaguely looks like a bee to us, but it still successfuly tricks bees, so image accuracy isn't the only factor. Both mimics can give us interesting insughts into how other animals see the world.

[-] angrystego@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

Yeah, I'll add another example where it doesn't work on us people, just for the fun of it. Tigers are quite strikingly orange and one wonders how they can hide in the greenery without being immediatelly spotted by their prey. But their prey sees the orange colour differently, for them, tigers blend with their surroundings perfectly!

[-] reinei@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

I mean don't we also sort of carry that same image (obviously not exactly, but sorta) in our genes?

[-] leds@feddit.dk 5 points 2 months ago

My dog will jump when I accidentally step on stick so that it suddenly moves, he has never seen a real snake. Non moving sticks that look like a snake? Doesnt react at all, I guess that routine was causing too many false positives and has not been propagated

[-] OfCourseNot@fedia.io 35 points 2 months ago

Evolution's fucking badass!

The process that made these images is very similar to the ones used by genAI in some ways.

[-] flora_explora@beehaw.org 1 points 2 months ago

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking! They cannot really tell what they look like or what they should look like. But based on various pressures and weights, they slowly get pushed to look like a cobra, for example. Amazing!

[-] rooster_butt@lemm.ee 15 points 2 months ago

Can someone explain the comment. What does "hot girl shit" even mean.

[-] nightofmichelinstars@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 months ago

It's one of Megan Thee Stallion's catch phrases that she says in a lot of her songs, and she also uses a lot of snake imagery. She has a song called Cobra.

[-] puppycat@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 months ago

two cobras watching your back, undoubtedly

[-] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Two or three years ago it was just another snake cult, now... they're everywhere.

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 1 points 2 months ago
[-] apotheotic@beehaw.org 11 points 2 months ago

Moths are awesome, there's no "Alas" about them!

[-] DreadPirateShawn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 months ago

I came for the alas, stayed for the atlas.

[-] TriflingToad@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

ngl it got me. It's confusing attack was highly effective.

[-] angrystego@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

The butterfly is called Attacus for a reason.

[-] python@programming.dev 4 points 2 months ago

I am down to respectfully admire any snake, but moths freak me tf out sorry

[-] meowMix2525@lemm.ee 6 points 2 months ago

Your loss tbh, moths are fkn awesome

[-] python@programming.dev 1 points 2 months ago

I know, my brain is just very unhappy when it registers one :') I am getting better at it tho, only cried a little bit the last time a moth made it into my apartment

[-] angrystego@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)
[-] Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago
[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago

First step: Google it to make sure it's not generative AI.

Second step: allow oneself to be amazed.

[-] BlackDragon@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 months ago

Alas! Moths.

[-] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

where is your god now?

[-] NegativeLookBehind@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Nature is fucking amazing

[-] mihor@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 months ago

Looks AI generated, LOL.

this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
854 points (98.4% liked)

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