Zamia
Guides
Blastobasis floridella
Blastobasis floridella is a small moth in the family Blastobasidae, first described by Dietz in 1910 under the name Valentinia floridella. The species is known from the United States, with confirmed records from Florida and Oklahoma. Larvae have been documented feeding on the cones of Zamia pumila, a cycad native to the southeastern United States.
Eumaeus atala
Atala, Atala butterfly, Atala hairstreak, coontie hairstreak
The Atala butterfly is a small, colorful lycaenid butterfly unique within its range for its aposematic coloration and exclusive association with cycad host plants. Once considered the most conspicuous insect in South Florida in 1888, it was believed extinct by the 1950s due to overharvesting of its sole native host plant, coontie (Zamia integrifolia), for starch production. Rediscovered in 1979 on a Miami barrier island, the species has recovered dramatically through conservation efforts and the popularity of coontie as an ornamental landscape plant, becoming common enough in southeast Florida to occasionally be regarded as a pest. The butterfly sequesters toxic cycasin compounds from its host, rendering all life stages unpalatable to predators.
butterflyhairstreakLycaenidaecycadcoontieZamiaaposematic-colorationchemical-defenseconservationendangered-species-recoveryFlorida-endemicpine-rocklandhost-plant-specialistsequestrationurban-wildlifeornamental-pestfreeze-dried-dietex-situ-conservationreintroductionfire-dependent-ecosystemnative-plant-landscapingcycasin-toxicitymultivoltineterritorial-malescorematasound-producing-pupaeRhopalotria
Cycad Weevils
Rhopalotria is a genus of cycad weevils in the beetle family Belidae, comprising approximately six described species. Species in this genus are obligate pollinators of Zamia cycads in the Americas, forming specialized mutualisms where they complete their entire life cycles within male cones. The genus represents a classic example of insect-plant coevolution, with weevils transporting pollen to female cones during visits while feeding and reproducing exclusively on male sporophylls.
Rhopalotria furfuracea
Rhopalotria furfuracea is a cycad weevil in the family Belidae, described by O'Brien & Tang in 2015. This species was previously referred to as Rhopalotria mollis in older literature, including the 1989 study that established its obligate pollination mutualism with Zamia furfuracea. The weevil exhibits highly specialized host-specificity to this cycad species, with all life stages completed within host cones. The relationship represents one of the most specialized known insect-cycad mutualisms.
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.