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True Facts: Flowers That Screw Flies

Ze Frank | September 5, 2026



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Merch: https://ze-true-store.myshopify.com/
TF Educational channel: ⁨ @truefactseducational9288

Thank you Dr. Steven Johnson, Bruce Anderson, Dr. Timotheüs Van der Niet.

Citations:

Bjçrn Bohman et al. 2017. The Spider Orchid Caladenia crebra Produces Sulfurous Pheromone Mimics to Attract its Male Wasp Pollinator. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 8455 –845.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201702864

Herbert Braunschmid et al. 2017. Interpopulation variation in pollinators and floral scent of the lady’s-slipper orchid Cypripedium calceolus L. Arthropod-Plant Interactions (2017) 11:363–379.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-017-9512-x

João C. F. Cardoso et al. 2023. The lady’s ‘slippery’ orchid: functions of the floral trap and aphid mimicry in a hoverfly-pollinated Phragmipedium species in Brazil. Annals of Botany 131: 275–286.
https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcac140

Karen Gil-Amaya et al. 2026. Pollination ecology of Dracula erythrochaete (Orchidaceae): brood-site imitation or food deception? Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2025, 207, 279–297.
https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae054

Tobias Hayashiet et al. 2022. Sexual deception of male Bradysia (Diptera: Sciaridae) by floral odour and morphological cues in Pterostylis (Orchidaceae.) Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2022, 200, 433–449.
https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boac015

Annemarie Heiduk et al. 2023. ‘Bleeding’ flowers of Ceropegia gerrardii (Apocynaceae-
Asclepiadoideae) mimic wounded insects to attract
kleptoparasitic fly pollinators. New Phytologist (2023) 239: 1490–1504
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18888

Hong Jianget et al. 2020. Cypripedium subtropicum (Orchidaceae) employs aphid colony mimicry to attract hoverfly (Syrphidae) pollinators.New Phytologist (2020) 227: 1213–1221
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16623

Johnson, S. D. et al. 2026. Pollination by
long‐proboscid horseflies and its implications for reproductive isolation among coflowering Satyrium orchids in South Africa. American Journal of Botany 113(6): e70221.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.70221

Kellenberger et al., 2023. Multiple gene co-options underlie the rapid evolution of sexually deceptive flowers in Gorteria diffusa. Current Biology 33, 1502–1512
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.003

Aroonrat Kidyoo et al. 2022. Pollinator and floral odor specificity
among four synchronopatric species of Ceropegia (Apocynaceae)
suggests ethological isolation that prevents reproductive interference. Nature Scientific Reports 12:13788
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18031-z

Giorgio C. Lombardia et al. 2021. Pollination biology of Erica aristata: First confirmation of long-proboscis fly-pollination in the Ericaceae. South African Journal of Botany.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2021.07.007

Florent Martos et al. 2015. Chemical and morphological filters in a specialized floral mimicry system. New Phytologist (2015) 207: 225–234.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13350

Carlos A. Matallana-­Puerto et al. 2024. Sex, flies and flower trap: Trapping trichomes and their function in pollination. Functional Ecology. 2024;38:2261–2270.
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14633

Galilea Orellana‑Vera et al. 2025. Experimental evidence of pollination by deception in a dioecious palm. BMC Ecology and Evolution (2025) 25:46
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02388-6

Ana Ospina-M et al. 2024. The sweet path of Hansel and Gretel: pollination system of Masdevallia hortensis (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) in a cloud montane forest of the Cordillera Occidental, in Colombia. Plant Systematics and Evolution (2024) 310:43.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-024-01924-z

D. Rakosy et al. 2017. Looks matter: changes in flower form affect pollination effectiveness in a sexually deceptive orchid. J. Evol. Biol. 30 (2017) 1978-1993.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13153

Anna Vlasankova et al. 2017. The nectar spur is not only a simple specialization for long-proboscid pollinators. New Phytologist (2017) 215: 1574–1581.
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.14677

Zhang, S. et al. (2024). Floral mechanisms promote pollination success and reduce the incidence of self-­ pollination in a fly-­ pollinated self-­ incompatible orchid. Ecology and Evolution, 14, e11295.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11295

Written by Ze Frank

Comments

This post currently has 27 comments.

  4. @onigawara999

    September 5, 2026 at 9:40 am

    I wonder if Frank has ever considered doing a crossover with another channel (if he hasn't done one already)?

    I think it would be neat if he collaborated with Lionfish_Extermination_Corps using video samples for commentary and of course raise awareness about the work they are doing to combat invasive Lionfish.

  5. @Warp9pnt9

    September 5, 2026 at 9:40 am

    YouTube nuked all my Shorts user-interface controls, including upvote, settings, volume, comments. ZeFrank is "flounder"-ing for content. Next thing you know, he'll be releasing "Creepy Dave" shorts just for the "halibut". 😉

  10. @TamTroll

    September 5, 2026 at 9:40 am

    the fact that these flowers are pollinating and not eating, means that these bugs all fall for the same trap multiple different times on different flowers.

  14. @dragolance

    September 5, 2026 at 9:40 am

    I suddenly have this vision of a future day where a teacher is playing one of the classroom friendly episodes in the classroom, while they are watching the original on YouTube or whatever is the streaming service of that time

Comments are closed.

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