Ruellia

Natives of Central and South America, the tubular flowers of Ruellia species are pollinated by very large bees in their native areas; it is unclear whether our relatively small fry are up to the job, except perhaps as nectar-thieves biting through the base of the petal to get at the nectar without delivering a pollination service. Likewise, although at home they are the larval foodplant for many showy butterflies, there are no reported cases of specialist herbivory here.