Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Scent of death

The orchid Satyrium pumilum is able to attract insects by mimicking the smell of rotting flesh.
A new study comparing the scent of the orchids with that of roadkill is to be published in the Annals of Botany 

The author was puzzled by the shape of the flowers. They don't carry any nectar and even if they did, the spurs that would hold it are the wrong shape to feed any visitors. So how do they attract insects to pollinate their flowers?

Photos by Dennis Hansen





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