1.
Record response to call for new astronauts
NAPLES, Italy, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Orchids that use sexual trickery to lure insects are more efficient in the transfer of pollen to another orchid, scientists in Italy said.
Scientists at the University of Naples Federico II studied 31 orchids, including some that produced flowers that looked or smelled like female insects and attracted male insects who collected pollen when they attempted to mate.
The orchids that used sexual deception had a higher rate of pollen transfer than orchids with multiple pollinators that provided a nectar or produced flowers that looked or smelled like nectar but offered no edible reward, researchers Salvatore Cozzolino and Giovanni Scopece said in a release Friday.
Specializing with one pollinator and using sex as a lure appears to make for a more efficient reproduction system, the researchers said in The American Naturalist.
"These results could provide new insights in the understanding of evolutionary shifts between generalized to specialized pollination strategies in flowering plants and that sexy orchids do it better," Scopece said.
|
|
|
| Additional Science News Stories | |
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
The late Steve Jobs, co-founder of the U.S. computer giant Apple, had faults in his personal life but was a business visionary, associates told the FBI.
|
NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
Macaulay Culkin is in "perfectly good health," his publicist said after the former child star was photographed looking gaunt and disheveled in New York.
|
GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 9 (UPI) --
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured the first color image from orbit of the three-petal lander of NASA's 2004 Rover Spirit mission, scientists say.
|
BREDA, Netherlands, Feb. 9 (UPI) --
A Dutch collector has said he's willing to sell his collection of rare liquors -- which he calls the world's largest -- for $8 million.
|
| Stories | Photos | People | Comments |
View Caption
