Pollination mimicry

A number of excellent overviews are available on chemical mimicry. Several reviews about pollination mimicry and insect mimicry can be found on the internet (e.g. Legoza, 2005). A more conventional presentation of chemistry, coevolution, and mimicry can be found in two chapters by Stowe (Chapter 17) and Spencer (Chapter 18) in K. C. Spencer s... 

The predators discussed up to this point search for prey by using their ability to perceive certain chemical clues. Some unusual predators have evolved the ability to attract their prey with scents that mimic the odor of a valuable resource (see reviews of chemical mimicry in refs. 9 and 39). Several groups of spiders lure male insect prey with scents that mimic the sex pheromone scents of females of the prey species (see reviews in refs. 9,13,40, and 41). To the best of our knowledge, these spiders are the only predators that mimic sex pheromones. However, the spiders share some similarities with the diverse orchids which mimic insect sex pheromones to lure pollinators (9, 42, 43) and with the predatory fireflies, which practice elaborate mimicry of visual sexual signals to lure their prey heterospecific male fireflies (44). 

Dafni, A. (1984). Mimicry and deception in pollination. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 15 259-278. 

Schiestl, F. R, Ayasse, M., Paulus, H. D. et al. (2000). Sex pheromone mimicry in the early spider orchid (Ophrys sphegodes) patterns of hydrocarbons as the key mechanism for pollination by sexual deception. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 186 567-574. 

Figure 22.1 Examples from two conceptual axes of interactions between flowers and their animal visitors. Axis 1 is a specialization-generalization spectrum of plant-pollinator interactions. Panel A depicts a guild of red Chilean flowers that share one species of hummingbird as a pollinator. In Panel D, a Perideridia umbel is visited by several families of bees, wasps and flies most are effective pollinators. Axis 2 describes relationships in which animals visit flowers for their own reproductive purposes. In panel B, a female Tegiticula moth gathers pollen from anthers of Yucca filamentosa, for which it is both obligate pollinator and seed predator. In panel C, a Drosophila fly (black arrow) is lured by appearance and smell of decaying matter to a deceptive Aristolochia flower, seen in cross-section. Floral scent plays diverse roles along these axes, including pollinator attraction in food- and sex-based mimicry. All photographs were taken by the author.

Not all floral scents consist of fragrant volatiles. Unpleasant odors associated with dung, carrion, urine, rotting fungi, and decaying cabbage and onion have been found in abiotic mimicry in many plant families such as Araceae, Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Apocynaceae.103 Several saprophagous insects are attracted to these flowers and act as selective pollinators. 

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