It's not particularly new, this is just some new work on how extensive moth pollination can be. Bees are most definitely not the only or "most important" pollinators. In an economic sense for the US the most important pollinator is technically the wind because we grow corn, and lots of plants are only pollinated by specific moths/flies/wasps. And the European honeybee in particular (the one we keep worrying about with colony collapse and everything) isn't even native to the US. Even among pollinator requiring crops, those things classically seen as being the domain of the bee, as much as 39% of flower visits are non-bee pollinators. [0]
Bees (other than bumble bees) are not native to North or South America. I would guess that bumble bees, moths, hummingbirds and butterflies did most of the pollination before Europeans Arrived.
There are even moths that mimic hummingbirds[1]. First time I saw one, I thought it was a hummingbird.
And there are hundreds of species of just bumblebees.
And mason bees
Hoverflies were the big surprise for me. They employ mimicry to be mistaken for bees (or occasionally hornets), but they are also important pollinators.
One of the moths related to the genus you linked that is also really cool to see fly and pollinate is the five spotted hawk moth. Unfortunately, as cool as these moths are to watch fly since they really can make you think they're some sort of hummingbird, their larvae are among every gardeners worst nightmares: the tomato hornworm. These can defoliate a whole tomato plant in just a few days, it's insane how much they eat, and how reviled the larvae are as pests compared to how cool the adults are.
Am I reading this right. Moths are as or more important than Bees as pollinators?
>The study says that the moths' transport networks are larger and more complex than those of daytime pollinators like bees.