"Calypso bulbosa... blooms, promising copious amounts of nectar just as naive bumblebees emerge in early summer. However, there is no nectar, and by the time the young bees discover this, they're covered in pollen.
Off they go in a huff to find another plant, often another Calypso bulbosa, until they put two and two together and decide to totally boycott fairy slippers. Normally, the boycott would be bad for the orchid's reproduction, but there's a hidden benefit. In their umbrage, the bumblebees will fly to a more distant patch of orchids, and this will reduce the possibility of landing on a close relative of the original deceiver. This boosts the quality of fertilization. In other words, even though fairy slippers have less sex, it's better sex. orchid species... For some, it can take 20 years before they blossom [could you name one or two or... ?]. ... Canada has 77 species, and in Ontario there are 61, with 44 of these found on the Bruce Peninsula... about 400 species [where did that number come from ?]... promise sex to young male bees and wasps by duplicating the pheromone smell of females. So effective are some of the orchids that when, in experiments, young male wasps were offered a choice between an orchid and a real female, they chose the orchid. Among Ontario's more spectacular orchids is the eastern prairie fringed orchid, an endangered species. It can grow a metre in height and support up to 40 flowers that cascade down the stem, frothy and creamy white. They are fertilized at night by a few of the hawk moth species. They have tongues long enough to reach down the nectar spurs, two to five centimetres deep, behind the flowers." article URL : http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/190273 *********** Regards, Viateur _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
