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The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to understand the adult foraging behavior of the nocturnal hawkmoth Manduca sexta. Adult M. sexta feed from the floral nectar of certain plants, which benefit from the pollination services resulting from these feeding visits. This mutualism has resulted in co-adaptive processes which link flower phenotypes with animal foraging behavior. The distinctive attributes of flowers, such as colors and odors, can exert an attraction on certain animals, particularly the ones that mediate their pollination. Therefore, in order to understand the foraging behavior of Manduca I focus on how responses to typical floral features, such as visual display and fragrance, allow this insect to get a nectar meal. My approach is purely experimental; I use different laboratory set-ups while manipulating artificial flowers to study responses to olfactory, visual, and tactile stimulation with the hope of understanding the appetitive behaviors, innate releasing mechanisms and motor patterns that together constitute the feeding instinct of Manduca. Throughout this thesis I explore 1) the role of tactile stimulation during flower “handling”, and describe a type of non-associative learning which allows moths to improve thei