Bud watch; sandie

[cnycharles]

Lots of bees see patterns of reflected UV light that yell 'here I am'. Similar things might work for other insects/orchids

 

[Rick]

Lots of bees see patterns of reflected UV light that yell 'here I am'. Similar things might work for other insects/orchids

Yup and just because I can't smell anything doesn't mean the flower is not emitting a fragrance / pheromone that means something fairly universally for groups of insects.

The phorid fly angle for orchids (especially species with tiny targets) is interesting since there are thousands of species of phoridae that deal with everything from rotting vegetation to parasitizing ants. You should check out the life history on the Decapitator fly (a species of Phorid that parasitizes
fire ants!!)

 

[JAB]

Good call Rick!

To be fair it was not a 'scientific' paper, it was just an article in OD.
Prof Braem just did his 2nd edition of the Paph complex and even he has no clue why they have such long petals.
I guess it will remain a PHD waiting to happen!