on 7/10/04 11:00 AM, Terri wrote:
> > I attended a very informative talk by Bob (Wellenstein?) of AnTec Paph Labs at > my local society last night. > He mentioned something that really intrigued me about the alba form of > orchids. While talking about pests, he told us that mealy bugs were drawn > more to alba forms due to lack of antho-cyanins. I'm not even sure if that is > the exact word, but was wondering if anyone could explain to me why this is > true? > I'm going to google the term as well, but would be grateful for any > insight... > Thanks, Terri Hello Terri, I'm sure you've probably found the answer by now, but anthocyanins are what make up some of the colors you see in a plant, whether it be flowers or leaves. Maybe the pigments taste bad (or smell bad), and the bugs like the taste of the alba forms or it is something in the reflected light spectrum of the differently colored plants/flowers that acts like a beacon to them. Insects often 'see' things differently than we do, and often certain flowers have colors that show up under ultraviolet and such light that makes kind of a 'runway' or landing strip show up on the flower, and certain bugs go to the differently reflected area. It may be that albas shout, "here I am" in reflected ultraviolet. (or, just being white they stick out from the green background more) charles -- Charles Ufford Calen the Border Collie CGC - now in Heaven Oriskany, NY USA IPA, Central NY and Southern Tier Orchid Societies [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.paphiopedilum.net Http://www.geocities.com/charlesufford
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