 ...is a columnar cactus (genus Lophocereus) that inhabits the Sonoran Desert of northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Most related cacti are visited and pollinated by migratory bats or birds, but the senita cactus is night-pollinated by a very special moth: the senita moth (Upiga virescens).
The relationship between the senita cactus and the senita moth is highly coevolved and an example of the rare obligate pollination mutualisms: the senita cactus is dependent upon the senita moth for effective pollination, and the moth is dependent upon the cactus for oviposition sites and for nourishment of its young.
I got to know the senita cactus and its moth pollinator rather well, because I worked on a study of molecular phylogeography of the cactus and the moth. A second focus of my project was the phylogenetic origin of the genus Lophocereus and the associated pollination mutualism. This work was carried out in the lab of Debashish Bhattacharya at the University of Iowa. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 18 September 2006 12:57 )
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