10th May 2016
Discovery of Morgan’s Sphinx Moth
In 1862, Charles Darwin discovered an orchid from Madagascar with a one-foot-long spur that held the pollen and the nectar at its depths. He predicted that there must be an insect that had a foot long tongue (proboscis) to pollinate the plant. Nobody had seen such a moth and the idea was laughed at. In 1903, the Morgan’s Sphinx Moth was discovered that has a proboscis 12 to 14 inches long to get the nectar from the bottom of the 12-inch deep orchid spur.
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