Pollen: Darwin's 130 Year Prediction

How long does it take for science to find an answer to a problem?

On January 25, 1862, naturalist Charles Darwin received a box of orchids. One flower, the Madagascar star orchid, fascinated him. It had an 11.5" nectary, the place where flowers make nectar, the sweet liquid that insects and birds eat. How, he wondered, did insects pollinate the orchid?

After experiments, he made a prediction. There must be a giant moth with a 11.5" proboscis, a straw-like tongue. Darwin died without ever seeing the moth, which was catalogued by entomologists in in 1903. But still no one had actually observed the moth pollinating the orchid.

In 1992, German entomologist, Lutz Thilo Wasserthal, Ph.D. traveled to Madagascar. By then, the moths were rare. He managed to capture two moths and released them in a cage with the orchid. He captured the first photo of the moth pollinating the flower, as Darwin had predicted 130 years before.

Backmatter includes information on the moth, the orchid, Charles Darwin, Lutz Wasserthal. Also included is Wasserthal's orginal photo taken in 1992.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Mims House
Published: 05/07/2019
ISBN: 9781629441207
Pages: 34
Weight: 0.22lbs
Size: 8.50h x 8.50w x 0.09d

Review Citations: School Library Journal 03/01/2019 pg. 128
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2019 pg. 165

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 504269 / Pollen: Darwin's 130-Year Prediction
Reading Level: 4.8 / Interest Level: Lower Grade / Point Value: 0.5