In the case of Angraecum sesquipedale, a species from Madagascar, on observing the 30 cm spur in the lip, Charles Darwin made the hypothesis that, since the nectar was at the bottom of the spur, a pollinator must exist with a tongue at least that long.
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However, in 1903, the predicted pollinator was discovered, a hawk moth then named Xanthopan morganii praedicta ("praedicta" meaning "the predicted one")
The flowers are insect-pollinated, with the most common pollinator being the megachilid bee Anthidium dammersi.
It has a close plant-pollinator relationship with Disa cooperi, whose scent attracts only two hawkmoth species, Basiothia schenki and Agrius convolvuli, that can effectively pollinate its flower.
He founded the Forgotten Pollinators Campaign, the Migratory Pollinators Conservation Initiative, and attempts to restore nectar corridors for pollinators in bi-national watersheds around his home in Patagonia, Arizona, which he calls the "pollinator diversity capitol of the United States."
Nepeta species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including Coleophora albitarsella, and as nectar sources for pollinators, such as honeybees and hummingbirds.
Schistonchus laevigatus and Schistonchus aureus are plant-parasitic nematodes associated with the pollinator Pegoscapus assuetus and Pegoscapus mexicanus respectively and syconia of Ficus citrifolia and Ficus aurea respectively.
Monkey beetles, largely endemic to southern Africa, are concentrated in the Succulent Karoo and are important pollinators of the flora.