"this coming week, June 24 to 30, has been declared the first annual National Pollinator Week by the U.S. Senate and the Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign. The U.S. Postal Service is releasing four ... new stamps to commemorate the occasion. ... Approximately 10 percent of orchid species employ deceit for pollination.
A rare South African orchid, Disa nivea, always grows amid colonies of a member of the foxglove family, whose flower it mimics. It also exploits the target plant's pollinator, a fly. Expecting a nectar reward, the fly comes up empty on the orchid, but since there are plenty of genuine nectar plants around, it gets fooled again and again. The spider orchids, Brassia, have evolved showy flowers with spidery characteristics to fool the several species of wasps which stuff their nests with paralyzed spiders. Thinking she has found victims, the female wasp repeatedly stings the flowers, pollinating the orchid... pseudocopulation. Each species of Orphrys orchid is pollinated by the male of a particular bee or wasp. The orchid flower somewhat resembles the female, but its velvety texture and the sexual odor it mimics are the main attractants. The females of these bees and wasps emerge later than the males, and, not coincidentally, the orchid blooms before females are active. The male lands on the flower and goes through the motions of copulation until it realizes it isn't getting anywhere and leaves. In the process it transfers pollen. It never learns, and will continue trying to mate with the orchid until the female wasps emerge." URL : http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jun/22/drive_survive/ *********** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
