Those clever flowers

Flowers were found to have several advantages in their, um, sleeves when it comes to attract pollinators, according to two reports that we spied today.

First, they wave at passing insects to attract their attention (BBC).

John Warren of the University of Aberystwyth have been inspired by watching flowers waving in the wind at his daughter's birthday, and wondered why they risk having their slender stems broken by these movements. Not finding much in the literature, he began to find an answer.

In a study of 300 specially cultivated flowers of different lengths rod-high corrugated flowers attracted more pollinators, they found (Journal of Evolutionary Biology). Unfortunately, history does not say how much it is not mentioned in the summary freely available… if the abstract does add that the insects were moving flowers as long as it was on. (If only Wordsworth knew there was a reason for its host of daffodils "float and dance in the wind" his poem might have been different).

Secondly, researchers have found just how effective orchids may mimic female wasps, as a means to attract men wasps to collect their pollen (Reuters). Not only do they attract boys (which was already known), but they also seem to excite enough to cause ejaculation (the release of "copious sperm" according to the report). Obviously, this is a waste of time and energy for the wasps, but apparently it helps orchids, in a certain way - I think more and more by rigid? "species of orchids cause such extreme behaviour of pollinators have the greatest success of pollination, "they report in The American Naturalist.