Darwin's predicted moth for the orchid Angraecum sesquipedale
Polilla prevista por Darwin para la orquídea Angraecum sesquipedale
- Date
- 1862 (predicción); 1903 (descripción); 1992 (observación) · confidence high
- Place
- Eastern rainforests, Madagascar
- Credited to
- Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace (prediction); Rothschild and Jordan (1903)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Darwin deduced that an orchid with a spur of nearly 30 cm must be pollinated by a moth with an extremely long tongue, as yet undiscovered; Wallace refined the idea in 1867. The moth (Xanthopan praedicta) was described in 1903 and photographed pollinating in 1992.
The moth Xanthopan morganii praedicta was described in 1903 (Rothschild and Jordan); Lutz Wasserthal filmed its pollination in 1992 (published 1997). Some authors dispute that it is the sole pollinator. Coordinates for the region; the moth lives in the east and southeast of the island.
What it led to
- a classic example of a confirmed coevolutionary prediction
- studies of mutualistic arms races between flowers and pollinators
- specialised pollination as an argument for conserving island ecosystems