True Facts: Flowers That Screw Flies

Join me at https://www.patreon.com/truefacts
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