Sneaky Orchid Tricks a Wasp | The Green Planet | BBC Earth
The orchid has a different strategy.
It synchronizes its emergence with the brief mating season
of the tinnid wasp.
The flightless female wasp produces pheromones
to attract males.
This male detects a scent that seems to be hers,
yet flies right on by.
The orchid not only has the same shape and color as a female wasp,
but it sits at the same height as she does.
It even mimics her smell.
And the beguiled male attempts to mate with it.
It hammers against the orchid's pollen sacks.
And the wasp leaves, doubtless a little shaken,
only to be duped once again.
The pollen on his back now sticks to this different orchid,
and the deception has worked.
The orchid's imitation is even more intoxicating, it seems,
than the real thing.
Eventually, the male wasps tar over the orchid's enticements.
Now, the wasps, both male and female,
find the flowers of the grass trees to feed.
And there, at long last, they mate.