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.
