Those clever flowers - May 08, 2008
Flowers have been found to have several tricks up their, um, sleeves when it comes to attracting pollinators, according to two reports we spied today.
First off, they wave at passing insects to attract their attention (BBC).
John Warren from the University of Aberystwyth was apparently inspired by watching flowers waving about in the wind at his daughter’s birthday, and wondering why they risked having their slender stems snapped by such movement. Not finding much in the literature, he set out to find an answer.
In a study of 300 specially grown flowers of varying stem lengths, tall wavy flowers attracted more pollinators, they found (Journal of Evolutionary Biology). Sadly the story doesn’t say by how much, nor is this mentioned in the freely available abstract… though the abstract does add that insects stayed on wobbly flowers less long than they did on stationary ones. (If only Wordsworth knew there was a reason for his host of daffodils "fluttering and dancing in the breeze" his poem might have been different).
Secondly, researchers have found just how effective orchids can be at mimicking female wasps, as a way to lure male wasps in to collect their pollen (Reuters). Not only do they attract the boys (which was already known), but they also seem to excite them enough to cause an ejaculation (releasing “copious sperm” according to the report). Obviously this is a waste of time and energy for the wasps, but apparently it helps the orchids, somehow – I guess by increasing stickiness? “Orchid species provoking such extreme pollinator behavior have the highest pollination success," they report in The American Naturalist.
Photo by Keith Weller, USDA
Comments
Yes,I want to know more about the nature because I was found of nature!
Posted by: 潘磊 | May 25, 2008 03:05 AM
It helps the Orchids, because the females then produce Male Wasps asexually as they aren't mating with the males as the males are mating with the orchids.
Female wasps need a male wasp to produce female offspring, but can produce male offspring on her own.
How does this help the Orchids? By producing more male offspring, which in turn pollinate the orchids.
Posted by: virtue | September 1, 2008 03:13 AM