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To: lerker

You have general pollinators like bees, but you also have “obligate pollinators” like the Yucca moth. They are famous for an old and intimate relationship with Yucca plants. Two of the three yucca moth genera in particular, Tegeticula and Parategeticula, have an obligate pollination mutualism with yuccas. Yuccas are only pollinated by these moths, and the pollinator larvae feed exclusively on yucca seeds; the female moths use their modified mouthparts to insert the pollen into the stigma of the flowers, after having oviposited in the ovary, where the larvae feed on some (but not all) of the developing ovules.

I first learned of this when I was living in the high desert of Arizona in the mid 70s. I still find that fascinating. Talk about a chicken and egg problem!


20 posted on 06/23/2020 12:22:34 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

That’s interesting. I’m gonna have to read up on that one.


43 posted on 06/23/2020 1:23:40 PM PDT by lerker
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