We are familiar with day-blooming flowers and day-visiting
insects, bees, butterflies, flies and a few others. These insects usually
prefer nice, warm, sunny days to visit flowers. In fact, their muscles
need a certain critical temperature to begin functioning. It is possible to see
some of these pollinators sitting still during chilly mornings, waiting for the
sun to warm them up sufficiently so they can take to the air.
Nocturnal moths are another story. Some are well adapted to
colder temperatures; they also have eyes that allow them to fly at night.
Fortunately for them there are flowers that bloom at this time. Such flowers
are likely to produce more nectar at night; they also release aromas that the
moths are well attuned to and that enable them to find the flowers.
So when the day pollinators complete their 9-5 schedule, the
night shift takes over. Let us clarify that many of these night fliers are more
active at dawn or dusk than in the dead of the night. They are called
crepuscular pollinators.
You may be fortunate enough to have one of those
visitors to your garden if you have moonflowers, evening primroses, Nicotiana
or morning glories. It can be quite a treat to see hawk moths in a regular
basis visiting your garden; some seem to have a fixed schedule and show up
almost daily at their appointed time. They are large, fly silently and unfurl
their straw-like tongues in front of long-tubed flowers like the ones mentioned. They
look like hummingbirds drinking nectar while suspended in the air. They have
handsome patterns on their wings, not as striking as those of butterflies, but
very beautiful in a sedate way.
Other dawn or dusk pollinators are less familiar to
most of us. The squash bee is an early riser, following the schedule of squash
blossoms and finishing her daily chores just after dawn or at mid-morning when
blossoms begin to wilt. They are said to be up before sunrise; however, I
have never seen them so early. Maybe I should spend more time in the pumpkin
patch and I may catch some of them.
Worth mentioning are truly nocturnal pollinators of a
different stripe, bats. Most cactus bloom at night, they are strongly scented
and produce big flowers with abundant nectar, just right for such large fliers. In the absence of bats, the landscapes of the West would be profoundly different, without the rich flora of saguaros, barrel cacti and prickly pears.
Night Blooms and their Pollinators
Moths as Pollinators
List of articles
Beginners Guide to Pollinators and Other Flower Visitors
© Beatriz Moisset. 2011
