Moths Create Music: 80 Species Compose Melodies While Their Population Drops 40%

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Moths are becoming musical composers in a groundbreaking project that turns their flight patterns into haunting melodies.

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Musician Ellie Wilson has created "Moth x Human" by assigning unique sounds to 80 different moth species when they land on her monitor.

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"I wanted to compose a piece of music that was, in part, created by the insects themselves," Wilson reveals about her innovative approach.

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The resulting composition features violin, cello, trombone, piano and synths built around the "tiny melodies" created by moths in flight.

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Did you know Wilson even taps on the cello body to mimic the sound of moths trapped in lamps?

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Moth populations are declining globally due to habitat loss, pesticides and climate crisis – with devastating effects on our ecosystem.

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"Many of us don't see moth numbers declining because they come out at night but they're just as vital to our ecosystem as bees and butterflies," Wilson explains.

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The piece dramatically demonstrates biodiversity loss by ending with data from a farmland with only 19 moth species – compared to 80 at the start.

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Scientists partnered with Wilson because "they can't get traction using figures and data" about catastrophic moth decline.

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Wilson's work joins other nature-based music projects highlighting ecological crisis, including Cosmo Sheldrake's Ecuador forest collaboration.

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