Darwin first saw this astonishing orchid from Madagascar, Angraecum sesquipedale, in 1862. Its foot-long green throat holds nectar—the sweet liquid that draws pollinators - but only at its very tip. “Astounding,” Darwin wrote, of this strange adaptation. “What insect could suck it?” He predicted that Madagascar must be home to an insect with an incredibly long feeding tube, or proboscis. Entomologists were dubious: no such insect had ever been found there.
At first I kept trying to figure out if it was fake Very cool. This would be a great introduction into how species adapt over time to their environment.
“Only male moths exhibit blood feeding, she noted, raising the possibility that as in some species of butterflies and other moths, the Russian moths do it to pass on salt to females during copulation…”
May 26th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
At first I kept trying to figure out if it was fake
Very cool. This would be a great introduction into how species adapt over time to their environment.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:14 am
“Only male moths exhibit blood feeding, she noted, raising the possibility that as in some species of butterflies and other moths, the Russian moths do it to pass on salt to females during copulation…”