Question

Explain the mutually rewarding relationship between Yucca plant and species of moth.

Answer 1

It is an obligate mutualism: the female yucca moth actively pollinates yucca flowers (deliberately transfers pollen to the stigma) and then lays eggs in the flower ovary; the developing moth larvae feed on some of the seeds but leave enough seeds for the plant to reproduce. Both species thus depend on each other to complete their life cycles. Yucca needs the moth for pollination, and the moth needs yucca seeds/ovaries for its larvae.