A pyralid moth (Lepidoptera) as pollinator of blunt-leaf orchid

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As early as 1912, mosquitoes were observed bearing the pollen masses (pollinia) of the blunt-leaf orchid, Habenaria obtusata (Pursh) Richardson, in Reese's Bog, a cedar swamp at the north end of Burt Lake, Cheboygan County, Michigan, near the campus of the University of Michigan Biological Station. A number of subsequent observers in Canada and the northern United States have reported pollinia of this orchid on mosquitoes, always females of the genus Aedes. Details of mosquito behavior and the pollination process have recently been described, with excellent pictures, by Stoutamire (1968), Thien (1969), and Thien & Utech (1970). These authors also noted three species of Xanthorhoe (Geometridae) as removing pollinia; two other geometrids were listed by Thien and Utech (1970) as very rarely bearing pollinia, but no other moths or insects of other orders have been reported as pollinators.

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Reference Code: A83VOS01IDUS

Full Citation: Voss, E. G. and R. E. Riefner, Jr. 1983. A pyralid moth (Lepidoptera) as pollinator of blunt-leaf orchid. The Great Lakes Entomologist. 16(2): 57-60.

Location: PLANT EF: PLATANTHERA OBTUSATA