NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Abstract. The relationship between yucca moths and yucca plants is an example of obligate mutualism. Many species of yucca plant can be pollinated by only one species of yucca moth, while those yucca moths use the yucca flowers as a safe space to lay their eggs.

Detailed explanation-2: -Both Yucca plant and the moth cannot complete their life cycles without each other. The moth deposits its eggs in the locule of the ovary and the flower in turn gets pollinated by the moth. The larvae of the moth come out of the eggs as the seeds start developing.

Detailed explanation-3: -The female moths oviposit in the ovaries of the yucca flowers and actively pollinate the same flowers with pollen which they have collected previously.

Detailed explanation-4: -The moths (Tegeti-cula and Parategeticula) actively pollinate the yucca flowers into which they oviposit, and the plants rely exclusively on these moths for pollination. The larvae feed on the developing seeds, and those eaten seeds are the major cost of this mutualism for the plant.