Moths are "super pollinators" and have been misjudged, says a new study
Scientists have found that moths are incredibly useful nighttime "super pollinators".
Research conducted by University College London (UCL) explained that moths should be taken just as seriously as other daytime pollinators. While we often pay attention to bees and beautiful butterflies on our flowers outside, it's moths who secretly pollinate a significant number of plants during the evening.
"There's this big misconception that all moths come and eat my clothes. That's not what happens at all," Dr Richard Walton, lead author of the study, told the BBC. "Some of them happen to be visiting flowers and can be an important part of the pollination process."
How was the research conducted?
Researchers analysed a nocturnal moth community on a Norfolk farmland between 2016 and 2017, to learn more about their pollinating habits. They surveyed the moths once a month to see which plants they visited, as well as how often they did so.
Out of 838 moths, they found 381 (45%) of them transported pollen — even more than bees, butterflies and hoverflies.
Dr Richard added: "Nocturnal moths have an important but overlooked ecological role. They complement the work of daytime pollinators, helping to keep plant populations diverse and abundant."
Elsewhere in their research, they also found that, unlike other insects, moths carry pollen on their chests. Thanks to their hairy bodies, moths can transport large amounts of pollen from one flower to the next in just one go.
"Previous studies of pollen transport among settling moths have focused on their proboscis. However, settling moths sit on the flower while feeding, with their often distinctly hairy bodies touching the flower's reproductive organs. This happy accident helps pollen to be easily transported during subsequent flower visits," Dr Richard says.
So, the next time you look at your blossoming flowers in the garden, remember it's probably the moths that are working the hardest...
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