Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Pollination by flies, known as myophily, is the second most prevalent method of pollination among orchids, involving pollinators from twenty different dipteran families. [13] These flowers typically emit scents reminiscent of decaying organic materials, excrement, or carrion, which attract flies seeking food or suitable sites for egg deposition ...
Pseudocopulation by an insect on a flower is a result of Pouyannian mimicry, named after the French lawyer and amateur botanist Maurice-Alexandre Pouyanne. . [1] [2] This occurs in several orchids, whose flowers mimic the female mating signals of specific pollinator insects, such as bees. [3]
Neotropical orchids themselves often exhibit elaborate adaptations involving highly specific placement of pollen packets on the bodies of the male orchid bees; the specificity of their placement ensures that cross-pollination only occurs between orchids of the same species. Different orchid bee males are attracted to different chemicals, so ...
The male collects fragrances from orchid flowers, which it stores in hollows in its hind legs. Orchids can be deceptive by mimicking the form of a female and her sex pheromone, thus luring male bees or wasps. [2] Pollination will take place as the males attempt to mate with the labellum, or the tip petal of the flower. [3]
Euglossine bees pollinate orchids, but these are male bees collecting floral scents rather than females gathering nectar or pollen. Female orchid bees act as pollinators, but of flowers other than orchids. Eusocial bees such as honey bees need an abundant and steady pollen source to multiply. Honey bee pollinating a plum tree. Bees are the most ...
Ophrys apifera, known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Ophrys, in the family of Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship.
They are referred to as the "bee orchids" due to the flowers of some species resemblance to the furry bodies of bees and other insects. Their scientific name Ophrys is the Greek word for "eyebrow", referring to the furry edges of the lips of several species.
The complex mechanisms that orchids have evolved to achieve cross-pollination were investigated by Charles Darwin and described in Fertilisation of Orchids (1862). Orchids have developed highly specialized pollination systems, thus the chances of being pollinated are often scarce, so orchid flowers usually remain receptive for very long periods ...