It is not often that we have solid documentation of the first observation of a species interaction, such as those between plants and pollinators. It certainly wasn't expected for the yucca moths, which were first observed by George Engelmann in St Louis in 1871. As it turns out, though, that that very first specimen was collected by Engelmann, who handed it over to entomologist Charles Riley with a request for further investigation. Riley's 140,000-strong collections became the nucleus of the Entomological collections at the Smithsonian Institution, and recently that very first female moth was found among Riley's yucca moth miscellanea.

Not in bad shape for being 130+ years old.

For a more extensive account of the history of this moth, please see:

Pellmyr, O. 2003. Yucca, yucca moth, and coevolution: a review.

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 90:35-55 PDF