Which plant-insect relationship involves the Madagascar star orchid and a giant hawkmoth?

Which plant-insect relationship involves the Madagascar star orchid and a giant hawkmoth?

• A. Pollination by the giant hawkmoth due to a long nectar spur.
• B. Mutualistic seed dispersal with geckos.
• C. Herbivory by leaf-cutting ants.
• D. Pollination by hummingbirds.

Answer: (A)

This question highlights how plant and pollinator can coevolve to create a highly specialized interaction. The Madagascar star orchid evolved an extraordinarily long nectar spur, which stores nectar deep inside the flower. Only a pollinator with a matching long proboscis can reach that nectar, and the giant hawkmoth has just such a long feeding tube. As the moth probes the spur to drink nectar, it contacts the flower’s reproductive parts in just the right way to pick up pollinia and deposit them into the next bloom, enabling pollination. This tight anatomical fit makes the relationship a classic example of coadaptation between a plant and its pollinator. Other options don’t fit because they describe interactions that aren’t about this orchid’s specialized pollination. Seed dispersal with geckos isn’t a recognized orchid strategy, leaf-cutting ants involve herbivory rather than pollination, and pollination by hummingbirds would require floral traits suited to birds rather than a flower design matched to a moth’s long proboscis.

This question highlights how plant and pollinator can coevolve to create a highly specialized interaction. The Madagascar star orchid evolved an extraordinarily long nectar spur, which stores nectar deep inside the flower. Only a pollinator with a matching long proboscis can reach that nectar, and the giant hawkmoth has just such a long feeding tube. As the moth probes the spur to drink nectar, it contacts the flower’s reproductive parts in just the right way to pick up pollinia and deposit them into the next bloom, enabling pollination. This tight anatomical fit makes the relationship a classic example of coadaptation between a plant and its pollinator.

Other options don’t fit because they describe interactions that aren’t about this orchid’s specialized pollination. Seed dispersal with geckos isn’t a recognized orchid strategy, leaf-cutting ants involve herbivory rather than pollination, and pollination by hummingbirds would require floral traits suited to birds rather than a flower design matched to a moth’s long proboscis.