WEBVTT - How Much of Our Food Do Moths Pollinate?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. Bees are not doing

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<v Speaker 1>well since the mid two thousand's colony collapse disorder has

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<v Speaker 1>been taking out the world's most famous plant pollinator all

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<v Speaker 1>over the world. Bees pollinate one third of the plants

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<v Speaker 1>we eat, from oranges to almonds, a service worth some

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and sixty eight billion dollars a year, by

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<v Speaker 1>the way, and their rapid disappearance is worrying farmers worldwide.

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<v Speaker 1>But what if there's a secret army of pollinators sneaking

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<v Speaker 1>around the plants we rely on most It could be

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<v Speaker 1>good news for our food security, or it could be

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<v Speaker 1>a neutral factor if these insects are susceptible to the

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<v Speaker 1>same or similar pressures as bees. A study published in

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<v Speaker 1>May of twenty and the journal Biology Letters has found

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<v Speaker 1>that moths play a much bigger part in pollinating plants

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<v Speaker 1>than anybody imagined, possibly visiting a bigger variety of plant

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<v Speaker 1>species than bees and doing it under the cover of darkness.

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<v Speaker 1>Scientists didn't just realize overnight that moths pollinate plants. The

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<v Speaker 1>problem was much of the research was limited to a

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<v Speaker 1>few specific types of moths, that obviously spend a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of their time rooting around in flowers, like hawk moths,

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<v Speaker 1>which have extraordinarily long tongues like fourteen inches that's thirty

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<v Speaker 1>six centimeters long, used for getting it hard to reach

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<v Speaker 1>nectar reserves within a flower. However, over the last decade,

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<v Speaker 1>investigations into how moths as a group contribute to the

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<v Speaker 1>process of pollination found that your average moth tongue can

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<v Speaker 1>be a really effective tool for moving pollen from plant

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<v Speaker 1>to plant. This knowledge led the studies authors to turn

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<v Speaker 1>an eye to the rarely studied settling moths, which sit

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<v Speaker 1>low and close to flowers and hide out in sheltered

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<v Speaker 1>spots during the day. We spoke by email with these

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<v Speaker 1>studies lead author Richard Walton of the University College London

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Geography. He said, our research has for the

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<v Speaker 1>first time compared moth pollination networks with those of day

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<v Speaker 1>flying pollinators such as bees and hover flies, to help

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<v Speaker 1>us understand and illustrate the wide ranging plant preferences we

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<v Speaker 1>discovered moths to have in an agricultural setting. We also

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<v Speaker 1>found that malls were carrying most pollen from the flowers

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<v Speaker 1>they visited on their furry bodies, which means the means

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<v Speaker 1>of pollen transport from flower to flower by moths is

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<v Speaker 1>very similar to bees and hover flies, which also transport

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<v Speaker 1>most of the pollen on their bodies. Many social bees,

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<v Speaker 1>like bumble bees and honey bees, visit lots of different

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<v Speaker 1>types of flowers, but they also tend to target certain

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<v Speaker 1>favorite plants that they know will provide plenty of their

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<v Speaker 1>favorite kinds of pollen and nectar. As a result, some

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<v Speaker 1>plant species get less be attention than others. Walton said,

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<v Speaker 1>Solitary bees can often be more specialized visiting one type

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<v Speaker 1>of plant, while hover flies often visit flowers with a

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<v Speaker 1>certain shape. We found that moths visit many different species

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<v Speaker 1>of plant with a few different types of flower shape.

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<v Speaker 1>If daytime pollinators do not visit a particular plant species often,

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<v Speaker 1>but moth species do, and this results in pollination, this

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<v Speaker 1>increases the chance that this plant would survive for another generation. So,

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<v Speaker 1>because moths are a bit less picky than daytime pollinators

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<v Speaker 1>but still get the pollination job done, plants not preferred

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<v Speaker 1>by bees persist. Maintaining a diverse population of plants is

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<v Speaker 1>essential to maintaining a stable and resilient ecosystem. That can

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<v Speaker 1>weather threats like climate change or urbanization. Conversely, with plenty

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<v Speaker 1>of plants to feed on, moths themselves can continue being

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<v Speaker 1>an important food source for birds, bats, and other insects.

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<v Speaker 1>The research team observed and collected daytime pollinators as well

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<v Speaker 1>as nocturnal moths around farm ponds in the United Kingdom

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<v Speaker 1>and found moth food webs were often comparable to those

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<v Speaker 1>of daytime pollinators in complexity, and in some instances had

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<v Speaker 1>greater complexity. Walton said moths are likely providing a kind

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<v Speaker 1>of resilience or back up to the food webs of

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<v Speaker 1>daytime pollinators. If a certain species or number of species

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<v Speaker 1>of bee or butterfly disappears from the landscape, moths could

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<v Speaker 1>potentially fill in that pollination gap. Taking this a step further,

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<v Speaker 1>it's also significant because moth populations are facing severe declines

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<v Speaker 1>across the globe. As we realize that they are important

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<v Speaker 1>contributors to the pollination process, it becomes even more important

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<v Speaker 1>to protect moth populations because we might be placing ourselves

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<v Speaker 1>at risk. The researchers found moths were visiting plants belonging

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<v Speaker 1>to families that are important to humans as a source

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<v Speaker 1>of foods, like apples, strawberries, pears, peaches, beans, and peas.

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<v Speaker 1>Walton said this has exciting implications for moths being involved

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<v Speaker 1>in crop pollination. It would help us to move past

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<v Speaker 1>seeing moths as merely pests, but it's important contributors to

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<v Speaker 1>our own livelihoods. Today's episode was written by Jesselyn Shields

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clay. For more and listen lots

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<v Speaker 1>of other topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of i Heeart Radio. For more podcasts my

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