Although a flower's bouquet can be composed of hundreds of chemicals, the tobacco hornworm moth needs to smell just a handful to identify its favorite source of nectar, the sacred datura flower. It is ... Researchers have found that a plant with white flowers and a dark black nectar is pollinated mainly by hawkmoths.

Understanding the Context

Pollution can play havoc with pollinators’ favorite flower smells. But one kind of moth can learn how to take to an unfamiliar new scent like, well, a moth to a flame. That ability may imply that the ... Science News: Floral curve test shows what’s great for a moth is not so good for a flower PORTLAND, ORE.

Key Insights

— A great flower shape for a moth trying to get a drink in the dark turns out to be awful from the plant’s point of view. Offering hawk moths (Manduca sexta) a range of 3-D printed ... Floral curve test shows what’s great for a moth is not so good for a flower Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Photo illustration of hawkmoth navigating to flower during vehicle exhaust emission. The researchers behind the new paper assessed ...

Final Thoughts

July 12 (UPI) --New research in Portugal suggests wildfires disrupt unique relationships between flowers and the specialized moths that pollinate them. In the wake of wildfire, wildflowers take ... Max Planck Society: Hawk moths have a second nose for evaluating flowers Until now, scientists thought that flowers which don’t produce floral volatiles are invisible to nocturnal pollinators, such as hawk moths. Such “deceptive flowers” might benefit from neighboring, ... Moths need just the essence of a flower's scent to identify it, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson. Although a flower's odor can be composed of hundreds of chemicals, a ...