How does a moth smell things in the dark?

Have you ever smelled cookies baking before you could see them? Your nose found them first. Close your eyes and sniff the air around you. What can you smell without looking?

Out in the garden at night, a moth flutters through the dark. The flowers are hidden in the shadows. So how does a moth smell things in the dark?

Let's start with a flower that opens at night. The flower sends its sweet smell out into the air. It does this so moths will come and visit.

That smell is made of bits too small to see. They float away on the gentle night breeze. Smell needs no light to travel, so it moves through the dark easily.

The floating bits drift all the way to the moth. But a moth has no nose like yours. Where do you think a moth smells from?

A moth smells with its antennae, which are the two feathery feelers on its head. The antennae wave in the air like small fans. That way they meet the smell bits floating by.

The antennae are covered in lots of soft hairs. The smell bits land on these hairs and stick for a moment. That is how the antennae catch the smell.

When the bits land, the antennae send a message to the moth's brain. Right away, the moth knows a flower is near! It smelled the flower before it could even see it.

The flower sends smell bits into the dark air, and the moth's antennae catch them. So the moth needs no light to smell its flower.

Out in the quiet garden, the moth flutters on through the dark. Its feathery antennae wave softly, catching the sweet smell of the flower.