1. Coevolution of the Morgan’s Sphinx moth and Darwin’s Orchid
By: Brittany Brinkley
Nick LaFave’s 1st block
Environmental Science

2. The Morgan’s Sphinx Moth
This odd moth has a tongue of nearly 12 inches long which is more than triple the length of it’s body.
While this is impressive and wildly interesting, one might wonder why a moth would need such a long tongue.
The answer is simple- It has adapted to it’s main food source, Darwin’s Orchid.

3. Darwin’s Orchid
The Darwin’s Orchid stores it’s pollen at the bottom of a really long tube beginning at the opening of the petals.
Because of this, the only animal able to collect it’s pollen is the Morgan’s Sphinx moth.
Said pollination is necessary for both the Orchid to reproduce and for the moth to eat.
The two species enjoy a relationship of mutualism.

4. A Need For Coevolution
Over time, the stems of the Darwin’s Orchid grew longer.
This was unfortunate for the Morgan’s Sphinx moth because only moths with longer tongues that the rest could survive
Only the Orchids that were pollinated could reproduce.

5. How Coevolution Happened
As the moths with shorter tongues died of starvation, only those moths with long tongues were able to survive and reproduce.
So, as the orchid tubes got longer, the moth tongues got longer so that both species could still receive the basics of life through their mutualistic relationship.

6. How They Pollinate

7. References
portal.com/academy/lesson/coevolution-examples- definition-quiz.html#lesson
portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/moth_flower4.png
sphinx-and-flower.jpg
content/uploads/2009/04/giant-sphinx-moth-4x6- 300x222.jpg
tc.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/assets/swf/1/pollination- game/images/poll-3-cometorchid.jpg