SSS 2009-08-06

（单词翻译）

Orchids² are botany's great mimics³, all in the service of getting pollinated. Some have evolved to resemble female wasps⁴ to attract males. Others produce odors that smell like potential mates or like more attractive flowers. Now a study published in the journal Current Biology adds another form of floral fabrication to this list: an orchid¹ that releases the exact same chemical compound that honeybees use to alert their hive mates.

Why? Because the bees are the favorite food of the larvae⁵ of Vespa hornets. And when the orchid Dendrobium sinense sends out these false alarms, the hornets pounce⁶ on the petals⁷, thinking they’ll bring a bee dinner home to the kids. Instead they become unwitting pollinators.

Researchers were intrigued⁸ by the hornets’ mysterious violent attacks on the orchids. They were able to isolate⁹ the pheromone the flower uses to drive the hornets wild. The finding might find use in agriculture. The Vespa hornet is a big pest for commercial beekeepers. This research could help develop environmentally friendly, species-specific traps to control the Vespa population, and take the sting out of these problematic pollinators.