FLICKR, MAJA DUMAT
Flowers are known to employ all manner of trickery to attract pollinators, from taking the shape of an insect mate to emitting wafts of rotting flesh. A South African flower (Ceropegia sandersonii) lures in its main pollinators, Desmometopa flies, with the scent of a fresh meal. The flower produces a cocktail of chemicals that mimics those released by a wounded honey bee (Apis mellifera), drawing flies into a pollen-coated chamber. The discovery was described this week (October 6) in Current Biology.
Desmometopa flies specialize in stealing food from spiders. They follow the alarm chemicals that honey bees release when under attack from a spider or other predator, and make an easy meal out of the debilitated prey. Researchers studying the umbrella-shaped flowers of C. sandersonii ...
