Brugmansia Pollination

[jaree2]

My brother sent me these photos he took last summer and I thought I'd share them. His Brugmansia had begun to bloom late in the summer and he caught this guy pollinating the flowers. From the little research we did, we think the visitor is Agrius cingulata.

[BBoyette]

Nice pics....They all look good but I like the last the last one the most.

[JWerner]

Where does he live? I grow many types here in western WA. I believe I had read or been told that they are pollinated by nocturnal moths, but think I live too far north for that to happen.

Jon Werner

[jaree2]

Originally Posted by JWerner

Where does he live? I grow many types here in western WA. I believe I had read or been told that they are pollinated by nocturnal moths, but think I live too far north for that to happen.

Jon Werner

Hi Jon, he lives near Richmond, VA. I'm not sure how much data they had backing up the information on ranges, but one article suggested it "strays northward in the summer to British Columbia, Colorado, Michigan, and Maine." So you might be in luck if one gets lost. Here's the link to the website we used: Species Detail | Butterflies and Moths of North America ; Even without the moth, the flowers are pretty amazing, how big is your collection?

[frogparty]

I absolutely love Brugmansias, the "tree of the evil eagle". Sanguinea is my favorite species

[puremanb]

Looks kinda like datura to me.

[frogparty]

They are related. Datura is an annual shrub, Brugmansia is a perrenial tree

[JWerner]

I have Super Nov, Ecuadorian Pink, and two "yellow" varieties along with sp. sanguiana. I grow them in pots and can only keep them 3 yrs - then they get too boi and I cut them down. It gets to hard moving them in and out of the greenhouse in the Fall and Spring.

Jon