Bees vs. insectivores
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There is a kind of insectivorous plants in the world that will capture and digest small insects and arthropods to obtain their own nutrition, such as Nepenthes, flytraps, thatched vegetables, etc., some of which are carnivorous plants rely on its beautiful flowers to trap small animals, once those small insects are confused by the beautiful flowers, they will often throw themselves into their delicacies. How did the hard-working little bee fight with the insectivorous flower helmet orchid, and how did the little bee escape the clutches of the insectivorous flower?
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There are about 600 species of carnivorous plants on Earth, and there are more than 30 species on the mainland, and they will lure, hunt and digest the prey they catch as the nutrients for their survival. Helmet orchid in South America is one of the insectivorous flowers, flies, spiders, ants and other small insects once they fall into its magic cave, it is undoubtedly self-destructive, it is difficult to have the opportunity to escape, become its delicacy, and it is very amazing that only smart bees can escape after a thrilling struggle.
Many carnivorous plants grow in poor soils or shrub forests, such as acidic swamps and rocky desertification areas. Helmet orchid is generally rooted in the bush, it will bloom beautiful bright flowers, the smell emitted is fragrant, very rich, flies, spiders, etc. are often attracted by it, but when they crawl around on the flowers, climb or fall into the ovary with nectar, the beautiful orchid will reveal its vicious insectivorous nature, the pollen tube of the orchid will shrink, and the flies and spiders will not be drowned and will suffocate.
Carnivorous flowers
Bees are also attracted to this beautiful flower, which is a species of bee called Yugson in South America. Eight kilometres away, the bees could smell the rich aroma of the helmet orchid and would soon smell the incense, and their real purpose was not to collect pollen or nectar, as we usually know of bees, but to prepare for fertility—to collect a special aphrodisiac substance secreted by orchids. In fact, bees are like flying to participate in a "feast", when bees and bees are smeared with this substance, danger and death are approaching them step by step.
This aphrodisiac is a waxy thing that Yugson bees want to apply to themselves to gain a sense of excitement. Due to the special structure of the helmet orchid, the bee can easily slip and fall into the ovary if you are not careful. There is nectar accumulated in the ovary, the concentration of nectar is relatively high, very sticky and sticky, and the bees will be stuck.
Naturally, the bees began to struggle and struggle to escape, but the helmet orchid seemed to be prepared, and its pollen tube would then grab the pollen sac and begin to contract.
Flower insectivorous
However, don't worry about bees, bees don't have to worry about their lives like flies, spiders, and mosquitoes. There is a small hole in the side of the pollen tube of the helmet orchid, and the clever bees will drill into this small hole and escape victoriously from here.
In the middle of the pollen tube is a pollen sac, all of which are stamens, and the time it takes the bees to struggle to escape is about 10 minutes, and in this abundant time, the pollen sacs will also fix the stamens on the back of the bees through the glue secreted by the orchids, and when the bees escape from the devil's cave of the insectivorous flower helmet orchid, the male powder has been fixed to the bees.
Text/ Zhao Jiaming - Correspondent of China Bee Products Association
This article is excerpted from the Academic Journal Issue 4, 2022
The author looks at the hive