Active-pollination
Guides
Epicephala
leafflower moths
Epicephala is a genus of small moths in the family Gracillariidae, notable for obligate pollination mutualisms with plants in the tribe Phyllantheae (Phyllanthaceae). Many species actively pollinate their host plants while simultaneously acting as seed predators, with larvae developing inside host fruits and consuming a portion of the developing seeds. This specialized relationship has evolved independently at least five times and involves over 500 host plant species. Some species have secondarily lost the pollinating behavior and function solely as seed parasites.
Prodoxidae
Yucca Moths and Allies
Prodoxidae is a family of small, primitive monotrysian moths within the superfamily Adeloidea. The family includes approximately 90 described species across 12 genera, with members distributed primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. While some species such as the currant shoot borer (Lampronia capitella) are minor agricultural pests, the family is best known for the yucca moths—genera Tegeticula, Parategeticula, and Prodoxus—which exhibit one of the most extensively studied obligate pollination mutualisms in evolutionary biology. Female yucca moths possess unique tentacle-like mouthpart modifications for active pollen collection and intentional pollination of their host plants. The family occupies a basal phylogenetic position within Lepidoptera, making it significant for understanding the early evolution of the order.
Rhopalotria slossoni
Rhopalotria slossoni is a belid weevil endemic to Florida that serves as an obligate pollinator of the cycad Zamia integrifolia. The species exhibits highly specialized mutualism with its host, with both life stages intimately associated with cycad male cones. Adults actively collect pollen using specialized body cavities and deliberately transfer it to female cones during visitation. This represents one of the few documented cases of beetle-mediated pollination in cycads.
Tegeticula yuccasella
yucca moth, Eastern Yucca Moth
Tegeticula yuccasella is a small moth in the family Prodoxidae, first described by Charles Valentine Riley in 1872. It is the nominate species of the T. yuccasella species complex, a group of obligate pollinators of yucca plants (Yucca spp.). The moth engages in active pollination behavior unique among Lepidoptera: females collect pollen with specialized tentacle-like mouthparts and deliberately deposit it on yucca stigmas to ensure fruit set before laying eggs. Larvae feed exclusively on developing yucca seeds. Recent systematic revision has split this formerly broadly-defined species into multiple distinct species, with T. yuccasella sensu stricto associated primarily with eastern North American yucca hosts.