What is the main idea of the passage?

Moonflowers use nighttime scent, color, shape, and timing to increase pollen transfer by visiting moths. (The passage links coordinated flower traits with moth behavior while noting the interaction is not guaranteed.)

Why is the flower pale and strongly scented?

Those traits help nocturnal visitors locate it in darkness. (The opening and conclusion connect visual contrast and scent with night-active animals.)

What is a “proboscis”?

a moth’s long feeding tube (The second paragraph directly names the unrolled feeding tube as a proboscis.)

How long does an individual bloom often remain open?

for one night (The final paragraph says individual blooms often open for one night.)

The Moonflower and Its Night Visitor: Level 3 Reading Comprehension Questions

As evening cools, a moonflower opens a pale, trumpet-shaped bloom. Its strong scent spreads through the dark. These features attract night-flying visitors, including large moths that can reach nectar deep inside the flower.

A moth approaches by following odor and visual contrast. It hovers near the bloom and unrolls a long feeding tube called a proboscis. As the moth drinks, its head or body brushes the flower's pollen. At another bloom, some pollen may touch the receptive surface that enables fertilization.

The exchange is useful to both organisms, but it is not a promise between them. The moth seeks food; the flower's traits make pollen transfer more likely. A visitor may take nectar without carrying useful pollen, and weather can keep moths away.

Moonflowers also have a limited schedule. Individual blooms often open for one night and close after morning arrives. Timing scent, pale color, nectar, and flower shape around nocturnal animals concentrates the plant's effort. The partnership is therefore built from matching opportunities: a moth active in darkness meets a flower briefly ready to receive and give.

Comprehension questions