Rebecca Nelson is a 1st year PhD student in the Graduate Group in Ecology at UC Davis in Dr. The moths will return the favor by pollinating your plants. You can use this resource from the National Wildlife Federation to find native flowers for your zip code. primroses, morning glories, and columbines) can help provide nectar and habitat. Planting sphinx moth friendly plants in your garden or neighborhood (e.g. Climate change, habitat loss, pesticide use, and light pollution could be contributing to these declines. Unfortunately, at least one third of sphinx moth species, including the white-lined sphinx moth, in the northeastern United States are declining in population due to unclear causes. Thus, sphinx moths allow primroses to produce these fruits fathered by multiple plants, more so than other types of pollinators. The sphinx moths were more likely to distribute pollen from multiple father plants to primroses that were growing closer together than from primroses that were spatially isolated. Ecologists found that for a rare primrose species in Colorado, flowers visited by sphinx moths mated with nearly twice as many father plants than flowers that were only visited by bees. Primroses often produce fruits that have seeds from multiple father plants, which puzzled ecologists. For example, white-lined sphinx moths are key to primrose (a type of flower) reproduction. Sphinx moths however have a unique ecological role that differs from other types of pollinators. Ecologists say that these special flowers have a type of pollination known as “sphingophily’, which is Latin for sphinx-loving. The tube shape of the flower is an ideal fit for the moth’s long proboscis, and the white color is easy for her to spot in the dark. They open at night, are long and tube-shaped, have a sweet fragrance and are white in color. Some flowers have special adaptations to attract sphinx moths as pollinators. The sphinx moth mostly visits flowers at night but will also visit flowers during the day as well. The white-lined sphinx moth pollinates a diversity of flowers including morning glories ( Ipomoea spp.), blazing stars ( Liatris spp.), columbines ( Aguilegia spp.), plumbagos ( Plumbago spp.), thistles ( Cirsium spp.), cardinal flowers (Lobelia spp.), evening primrose ( Oenothera spp.), and penstemons ( Penstemon spp.). As she moves between flowers, she brings pollen with her, helping the flowers reproduce. At each flower, she drinks nectar with her long mouthpart, called a proboscis. The white-lined sphinx moth hums from flower to flower. Like bees, birds and butterflies, moths also play an important ecological role as pollinators. The white-lined sphinx moth caterpillar raises the front of its body in the air, a posture resembling the Great Sphinx of Egypt. While some other sphinx moth species produce caterpillars that are destroyers of crops, the white-lined sphinx caterpillars are not considered to be major agricultural pests. The caterpillars eat a variety of host plants such as tomatoes and evening primrose. The caterpillar has a habit of raising the front of its body in the air in a way that resembles the Great Sphinx of Egypt. The name sphinx moth comes from the behavior of the caterpillar. Sphinx moth caterpillars, called hornworms, are green with red spots and small horns. They typically produce at least two generations a year between May and September. The white-lined sphinx moth is found throughout much of the contiguous United States, including California, as well as in parts of Canada and central America. Right: Sphinx moths often resemble hummingbirds in their hovering style like this Anna’s hummingbird ( Calypte anna). Left: A white-lined sphinx moth ( Hyles lineata) visits a red salvia flower ( Salvia spp.) in southern Arizona.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |