In the quran moths are mentioned in
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101.4 (The) day will be mankind like moths, scattered.
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The word used to describe moth is farāshi
( http://www.islamawakened.com/quran/roots/Fa-Ra-Shiin.html )
The root word is used in other ayats to mean “Carrying” or “on top of…”
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51:48 And the earth We “furnished”; so glory to the Makers.
6.142 And from the livestock are those for burden “carrying”……..
2.22 The One who has made the earth “a resting place”……..
55.54 While reclining upon “couches”……..
56.34 And “couches” raised
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The question is
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Why does moth’s root word have the same meaning of being carried or on top of?
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Well………
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Science always knew moths couldn’t rely on visuals (for flight) because they are nocturnally active (their visuals work too slowly in low-light conditions.)
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They dont have ear canals or appendages that (commonly found in) two-winged insects use to help steer themselves.
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And the also don’t have halteres (Found in other two wing insects such as houseflies and mosquitoes- this helps them us their stunted hind “wings,”
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Basically helping them detect forces that might throw them off-balance)
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So how do they fly?
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A moths use their antennae as spatial orientation sensors to steady themselves as they fly and hover over flowers.
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Sane on hawk moths experiments, Feb. 9 issue of the journal “Science” ( https://www.sciencemag.org/content/315/5813/863 ) showed that the antennae of moths act it in essentially the same way as is found in two-winged insects.
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The antennae vibrate at certain frequencies, and as the moth’s body rotates, inertial forces deflect the antennae. Sensors at base of antennae, called mechanosensors, detect these mechanical movements and send signals to the moth’s brain so the moth can correct its orientation.
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The experiment was simply they cut off a moths antenna and it lost all sense of direction causing it to have extremely erratic behaviour (similar to what a human would if we lose an ear drum- .ie loss of balance);
after reattaching it stability to a great extent was restored (the mechanosensors are at the base of antennae and were not damaged when the antennae were severed, but the moth did not have total control because other detection systems were partially damaged.)
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Essentially what this means is the flight of a moth (and its numerous years of mystery) is not from its eyes, ears, appendages or halters (All from the lower portions of insects bodies) like other flying insects, but its flight is from on top (its antenna).
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P.S
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6.142 Is commonly translated as
And from the livestock are those for
burden/carrying – ḥamūlatan
“meat” – wafarshan
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Farshan does not mean meat with any other context/usage of the word.
But it can mean it if we translate it as (which would be suitable for the rest of the ayat)
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ḥamūlatan -
carrying (supporting the weight of something else)
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wafarshan -
and (the) carry (support the weight of their carry, their edible “meat”)
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