Orchids and 'sexual deception'

[Tindomul]

I know this is old news to most of us, but there have got to be some curious onlookers, and newbies who would be interested.

In Europe there is an orchid, Ophryus sphegodes that manages to get themselves pollinated via deception. They manage to decieve male bees into mating with the flower. This act cuases the orchids to either get pollinated or release the pollen.

The orchids have evolved a set of chemicals that to the bees smell like a female. Now here is the interesting part. The bees are able to remember these smells, and each flower emits a different smell. So when the male realizes his mistake, he doesn't come back to the same flower. This helps prevent self pollination. Isn't that cool!

In Australia there is a whole group of orchids that appear do be doing the same thing with wasps instead of bees. Dr. Florian Schiestl of the Australian National University has been trying to see if the orchids in Australia do the same thing as the ones in Europe.

One last note to mention. These chemicals don't seem to have evolved just attract male insects, but they first evolved as the wax covering on the flowers to prevent water loss. So the chemical concoction that the wax is made of just happened to emit the same smell as female insects. Hmmm, which came first I wonder, the ability to smell like a female bee/wasp, or was that a happy coincidence that evolution took advantage of.

Hope you all enjoyed this post, and here is a link to site where I found my info. Thanks for reading, and feedback/comments (hint...oohs and ahhhs) would be nice.

http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/TwistedOrchids.htm

[MisterRay]

I'm not sure if anyone else has called it this, but my "Wasp Orchid" supposedly developed a similar mechanism for pollenization:

Dendrobium spectabile

[Tindomul]

Yea, I'm willing to bet, especially since I didnt do all my homework on the subject, that orchids like this exist all over the world. I wonder what they will find in the new jungle over at Papua New Guinea. You know they finally got into a jungle NO ONE has ever wandered into. I hope they find new orchids.

[Phantasm]

That's an interesting article. Many orchid species use UV "pathways" to direct pollinators towards the sexual parts of the flowers. The fact that fragrance is used to attract pollinators is not surprising (bulbophyllums), and I'm sure that some flowers use a combination of vision and smell to attract insects.
It's curious that each flower emits it's specific odor to prevent self-pollination in this case, but it's not always the case with orchids!

[Tindomul]

I would think, and this is just speculation on my part, that if an orchid emmits an odor to attract insects it would be to advertise the general location of the flower. With the exception ofcourse of orchids that realse their perfumes at night, in which case the pollinator would only have smell to help find the flower. So colors, UV 'pathways' would be the orchid's way of flaging down the pollinator so it can get to the flower.
Anyone know if there is a correlation between orchids that release strong odors, and time of day/night that pollinators appear? maybe orchids that release really strong odors depend on night pollinators (bats, moths, etc..) While orchids that depend on diurnal pollinators like bees and hummingbirds rely more colors????

[R Srinivasan]

Originally Posted by Tindomul1of9

I know this is old news to most of us, but there have got to be some curious onlookers, and newbies who would be interested.

In Europe there is an orchid, Ophryus sphegodes that manages to get themselves pollinated via deception. They manage to decieve male bees into mating with the flower. This act cuases the orchids to either get pollinated or release the pollen.

The orchids have evolved a set of chemicals that to the bees smell like a female. Now here is the interesting part. The bees are able to remember these smells, and each flower emits a different smell. So when the male realizes his mistake, he doesn't come back to the same flower. This helps prevent self pollination. Isn't that cool!

In Australia there is a whole group of orchids that appear do be doing the same thing with wasps instead of bees. Dr. Florian Schiestl of the Australian National University has been trying to see if the orchids in Australia do the same thing as the ones in Europe.

One last note to mention. These chemicals don't seem to have evolved just attract male insects, but they first evolved as the wax covering on the flowers to prevent water loss. So the chemical concoction that the wax is made of just happened to emit the same smell as female insects. Hmmm, which came first I wonder, the ability to smell like a female bee/wasp, or was that a happy coincidence that evolution took advantage of.

Hope you all enjoyed this post, and here is a link to site where I found my info. Thanks for reading, and feedback/comments (hint...oohs and ahhhs) would be nice.

News in Science 26/06/00 Orchids found to be sexual deceivers

There are two vandaceous orchid genus, namely. Cottonia and Louisia that have bee like lips and are reportedly pollinated by specific bees.

[Tindomul]

Thats soo cool!!! I think we will need to find pictures!

[R Srinivasan]

Originally Posted by MisterRay

I'm not sure if anyone else has called it this, but my "Wasp Orchid" supposedly developed a similar mechanism for pollenization:

Dendrobium spectabile

That "Wasp Orchid" Dendrobium spectabile got its name from its dingy yellow colour with less remarkable stripes. Often I used to feel that God was not certain how this orchid specie should look like! Moreover wasps being truly predatory seldom do bees job of pollination.

[Tindomul]

Ahh but the wasp was not going in to eat, it was going in to find a mate and got deceived.

[R Srinivasan]

Originally Posted by Tindomul1of9

Ahh but the wasp was not going in to eat, it was going in to find a mate and got deceived.

But no part of Dendrobium spectabili has the slightest hint of a female wasp( I am unsure of any sexual dimorphism among the wasps) that should trap a wasp into an amorphous relationship.