Hi Oliver I believe I somewhere have read that the bees has their own enzym, which transforms the fragrant substance so that it becomes attractive to the female bees. Otherwise the female bees might be more interested in smelling the flowers than securing future generations of bees :)
Sorry but I dont remember the source and what exact species is was refering to, but it makes sense this way - at least it does to me. Others here should be able to find more precise reference and correct my errors. Regards Karen On 5/18/05, Oliver Sparrow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 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 > _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
