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Coevolution of the Morgans Sphinx moth and Darwins Orchid By: Brittany Brinkley Nick LaFaves 1 st block Environmental Science

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The Morgans Sphinx Moth This odd moth has a tongue of nearly 12 inches long which is more than triple the length of its body. While this is impressive and wildly interesting, one might wonder why a moth would need such a long tongue. The answer is simple- It has adapted to its main food source, Darwins Orchid.

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Darwins Orchid The Darwins Orchid stores its pollen at the bottom of a really long tube beginning at the opening of the petals. Because of this, the only animal able to collect its pollen is the Morgans Sphinx moth. Said pollination is necessary for both the Orchid to reproduce and for the moth to eat. The two species enjoy a relationship of mutualism.

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A Need For Coevolution Over time, the stems of the Darwins Orchid grew longer. This was unfortunate for the Morgans Sphinx moth because only moths with longer tongues that the rest could survive Only the Orchids that were pollinated could reproduce.

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How Coevolution Happened As the moths with shorter tongues died of starvation, only those moths with long tongues were able to survive and reproduce. So, as the orchid tubes got longer, the moth tongues got longer so that both species could still receive the basics of life through their mutualistic relationship.

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How They Pollinate

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References http://education- portal.com/academy/lesson/coevolution-examples- definition-quiz.html#lesson http://education- portal.com/academy/lesson/coevolution-examples- definition-quiz.html#lesson http://education- portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/moth_flower4.png http://education- portal.com/cimages/multimages/16/moth_flower4.png http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/pollinators-morgans- sphinx-and-flower.jpg http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/pollinators-morgans- sphinx-and-flower.jpg http://blog.hmns.org/wp- content/uploads/2009/04/giant-sphinx-moth-4x6- 300x222.jpg http://blog.hmns.org/wp- content/uploads/2009/04/giant-sphinx-moth-4x6- 300x222.jpg http://www- tc.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/assets/swf/1/pollination- game/images/poll-3-cometorchid.jpg http://www- tc.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/assets/swf/1/pollination- game/images/poll-3-cometorchid.jpg