Another well known group of pollinators are the butterflies and moths with especially the former group being very much associated with feeding on flowers and so it is the butterflies that most people think of when thinking of pollination.
And while this is totally understandable and true many moth species are also very important when it comes to pollination of flowers.
Butterflies feed on the sugary-rich nectar that flowers produce and during this feeding they get pollen attached to them and this is transferred to another flower they visit to feed on.
They do not carry as much pollen as bees, wasps or hoverflies but due to their very long tongues they are very effective at pollinating flowers that have deep flowers.
Large Skipper butterfly (Ochlodes sylvanus).© Tim Ransom
Moths are not usually associated with pollination but in fact many are very important to this.
There are day-flying moths such as the Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria) but there is also the ‘pollinator night shift’ when moths visit flowers that stay open overnight and do not close their petals. Of course the latter is not so well known as, let’s be honest, how many of us go out at night to see which flowers the moths are feeding on!
Most moths may not carry much pollen from one flower to another but they still contribute significantly especially as they are one of the few insects to pollinate at night time.
Jersey Tiger moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria).© Tim Ransom
More content about Butterflies & Moths:
Peacock butterfly Aglais io – Species spotlight
Food for caterpillars
Click the links below to learn more about the other main groups of insect pollinators:
