A Sexually Deceptive Orchid...

Posted by Queuebot in Animal, Science & Tech on January 28, 2009 at 4:16 pm

"...so convincing that male wasps will mate with it to the point of ejaculation."

After reading that in Harper's Magazine ("Findings" section, Sept '08), I Googled the relevant terms and found that this has been known for a century, and there's an abundance of such reports, most of them originating from Australia.

Some orchids can imitate the olfactory cues used by males to locate females, including producing pollinator-specific sex pheromones. As the pollinator approaches the orchid, he is again deceived by the coloration or shape of the blossom.

The original research was performed on Australian tongue orchids (Cryptostylis species). Curious to know what they looked like, I searched Google images and found the embedded photo above at the link below.

Remember, to a male wasp, these orchids look and smell like female wasps. What they look like to you is not relevant here.







Link - via harpers

From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by Minnesotastan.

 
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Indonesian Mimic Octopus

Posted by Alex in Animal on December 7, 2008 at 12:44 pm

The Indonesian mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, takes camouflage and mimicry into a new level:

This octopus is able to copy the physical likeness and movement of more than fifteen different species, including sea snakes, lionfish, flatfish, brittle stars, giant crabs, sea shells, stingrays, jellyfish, sea anemones, and mantis shrimp. This animal is so intelligent that it is able to discern which dangerous sea creature to impersonate that will present the greatest threat to its current possible predator.

Ursi’s Blog has the video clip of the mimic octopus in action: Link [embedded YouTube clip]

 
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