Cheating between orchids and wasps

Australia's botanical world is a place full of sexually thrilling stories, including the story of a orchid trying to disguise as female bees to seduce lost corn bees.

Anne Gaskett, a doctoral student at Sydney's Macquaire University, found the first evidence of an evolutionary arms race between orchids and pollinators.

She used advanced technology to find out how orchids shaped tongues that male bees believed they were female bees. The results can help find ways to treat environmentally friendly insects and protect rare orchids.

Gaskett investigated the Lissopimpla wasps excelsa . For this bee, the orchid has all the feminine curves of a female bee. But bees are not easily fooled. After several exposures, the bees avoided sex with the tree. At that time, orchids must strengthen themselves to become more like female bees to attract male pollinators for it.

"This means that only the most convincing orchids will continue to reproduce," Gaskett said.

Orchid is the only plant that cheats insects with such sexual harassment. The goal is for insects to relate to it. At that time, male bees will carry chalk on the body and pollinate other flowers.

Orchid flowers have the same features as a female bee.
(Photo: anu.edu.au)

What is special is that this bewitching bee has been tricked into polling for five different orchid species, belonging to the Cryptostylis group. Usually an insect only pollinates a species of orchid. This means that these five orchids, though looking completely different under the human eye, must give male bees a completely similar feeling.

Gaskett used a spectrophotometer to analyze the color of orchid species and female bees. She found orchids accurately simulating the color of female bees. She also found hidden lines that look very much like a female bee to male bees, including " love handles " that male bees take in when mating.

The hoax between orchids and wasps occurs in Australia's most central areas because the tongue orchid is popular in Australia and New Zealand."People passed by without even knowing that there was a sexual drama happening right next to them in the park," Gaskett said.

MT