Michal Barták, Robert Tropek

This review synthesises available knowledge on the moth pollination of tropical plants. We reviewed moth adaptations for nectar feeding, floral traits tailored to moth preferences, plant adaptations to moth pollination, the relative proportion of pollination syndromes and the proportion of moth-pollinated plants in tropical communities.
Moths are adapted to foraging by advanced vision and olfaction to navigate under low light. Floral traits, including colour, scent, or nectar concentration, adhere to these adaptations, attracting nectarivorous moths or even evolving into phalaenophily and sphingophily pollination syndromes.
Moth pollination is crucial for numerous tropical plant species across >25 families. In tropical ecosystems, plants with sphingophilous and phalaenophilous flowers account for 4% to 13% of species diversity, while moth-pollinated plants are represented in 0% to 20% of species. Given the proportion of moth-pollinated plants and that moths are rather infrequent visitors of flowers, we determine moths as crucial pollinators in the tropics.
Current research shows biogeographic biases and faces methodological challenges, observational and identification difficulties and limitations by necessary equipment. These constraints result in the limited knowledge of the ecological roles of moths in tropical regions and the need for comprehensive studies on nocturnal pollinators.
Future research should integrate community-level surveys and specific pollination system studies. Emphasising modern methods such as camera traps, AI-driven identification, and NGS metabarcoding will be instrumental in addressing current research gaps. Understanding the role of moths in pollination, maintaining biodiversity, and ecosystem services is critical, especially considering the changing climate.