毛地黄上的红天蛾

© David Chapman/Alam

隐秘的传粉者

为什么授粉的功劳全归蜜蜂和蝴蝶了？飞蛾也许不会整天嗡嗡地飞来飞去，但它们也完成了传粉任务呀。请注意，国家飞蛾周从今天就开始了。无论你平常是用卷起的报纸拍打飞蛾，还是用毛巾包裹飞蛾然后放生室外，你都能参与到国家飞蛾周的活动中来。你可以与世界各地狂热的飞蛾爱好者一起观察和记录这些飞蛾，并帮助我们更多地了解他们。

你可能会发现，大多数飞蛾的触角是羽毛状的，而蝴蝶触角则有着球状或棒状的末端。当然，由于大多数飞蛾是夜间活动的，所以你可能需要在外面留一盏灯才能观察它们。但无论光线如何，这张照片中的红天蛾总能够看到你。因为它不仅视觉极其灵敏，而且可以辨别颜色。事实上，科学家们说红天蛾是经证实的第一种具有夜间彩色视觉的物种之一。我们发现，红天蛾视力好的一个原因是它们需要大量能量拍打翅膀在空中盘旋、从花朵中觅食，因此它们必须高效率地找到下一朵花觅食。这就是大自然，如此善于解决问题！

Elephant hawk-moth on foxglove flower

© David Chapman/Alam

Stealthy pollinators. Elephant hawk-moth

The elephant hawk-moth feeding on a foxglove in our homepage photo will always see you, regardless of the available light. It has super-sensitive eyesight - in fact, scientists say it was one of the first species they could prove had nocturnal colour vision. This gold and pink creature can be spotted at dusk in gardens, woods and open countryside between May and August and is widespread throughout much of the UK. If you’re wondering about that name, the caterpillar of the elephant hawk moth is said to bear a resemblance to an elephant’s trunk. They are also strong fliers whose ability to hover in position while feeding earned them the “hawk” part of their name. They use a lot of energy flapping their wings to hover and feed from flowers, so their eyesight has to be super sharp in spotting the next floral feast. Nature - what a problem-solver!