Pollination Image (IMAGE) Queen Mary University of London Caption Dr. Elizabeth McCarthy, who carried out the work as part of her Ph.D. at QMUL but who is now at University of California Riverside, said: "Some plants evolve increasingly specialised relationships with the species that pollinate them. A classic example is Darwin's Madagascan orchid, first discovered in 1798. Its exceptionally long nectar spur led Charles Darwin to propose that it was pollinated by a moth whose proboscis -- the organ that extracts the nectar -- was longer than that of any moth known at the time. Darwin's prediction was spectacularly verified 21 years after his death when just such a moth was discovered." Credit Ninad Thakoor Usage Restrictions Credit: Ninad Thakoor License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.