One would not normally associate the smell of rotting flesh with one of the world’s most beautiful flowers, the orchid. However, research which is “hot off the press”, led by UKZN botanist, Dr Timotheus van der Niet, reveals that a South African orchid mimics the stench of a decaying corpse to attract its key pollinator, the flesh fly.
‘We know it is common for orchids to deceive insects into pollinating them. We also know that some plant species can mimic carrion to attract flies. What we didn’t know was how successful this was,’ said van der Niet.
The researchers, who included A-rated Scientist, Professor Steve Johnson, set out to study the orchid Satyrium pumilum to try and discover how it was attracting flies...