Moths

There are close to 160,000 different species or types of moth in the world and over 350 species in Texas. This is nearly 10 times more species worldwide than their daytime cousin, the butterfly. Moths are insects, which means they have six legs, and their body is split into three parts, the head, thorax and abdomen. They also have two sets of wings connected to their thorax, known as the forewings at the top and hind wings at the bottom. On their head, they have a large pair of compound eyes made up of thousands of individual eyes called ommatidia (om-uh-tid-ee-uh) and a pair of small simple eyes which can sense light. They have a straw-like tongue called a proboscis (pro-bos-kiss) which they use to sip nectar from flowers and they taste using special structures on their feet. Moths smell using their antennae which are typically long and thin or featherlike. Antennae are one of the ways to tell moths and butterflies apart. Butterflies have club

Texas Pollinators

Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from one flower to another so the plant can produce fruit. This is an important step in a plant’s life cycle. Flowers rely on something called a vector to transfer pollen. Plants can be pollinated by non-living factors such as wind and water, but most plants are pollinated by animals. These are all examples of vectors.