Manduca sexta (IMAGE)

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Manduca sexta

Caption

A tobacco hawkmoth (Manduca sexta) drinking nectar from a flower of the tobacco species Nicotiana alata. The nocturnal moth locates its food source by smelling the odor or seeing the strikingly bright color of the flowers. The visual signals of the plant to be pollinated, paired with M. sexta's ability to associate new smells with nectar rewards, may help the insect to compensate for the interference in chemical communication caused by high ozone levels in the air.

Credit

Anna Schroll

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