I saw an oddity on British television last night on which people on this network may be able to expand. The program was concerned with the life and times of the Brazil nut, including its pollinators. These Euglossine bees were shown visiting an orchid, which with my admitted ignorance of South American orchids looked like a Gongora aff. quinquenervis. The commentary said that "scientists had shown" that the male bees needed a scent from the flower in "order to be able to breed". They went on to say that elimination of the orchid and its habitat was therefore also the elimination of the pollinator, and thus the eventual end for the Brazil nut.
I assume that the flower has a pheromone, and this is either attractive to females (but why don't they and not the males visit?) or bee viagra. Does anyone know more about this? _____________________________________ Oliver Sparrow Tel: UK (0)20 7736 9716 www.chforum.org www.treknepal.org www.datafreeze.com _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
