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COMPLEX BOQUET. "We identified more than 100 compounds in the odor bouquets of labellum extracts from O. sphegodes; 24 compounds were found to be biologically active in male olfactory receptors...analyses of odors from individual flowers showed less intraspecific variation in the odor bouquets of the biologically active compounds as compared to nonactive compounds." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2000.tb01243.x/abstract View in LinkedIn

VISUAL AND OLFACTORY CUES. "The orchid Ophrys sphegodes Miller is pollinated by sexually excited males of the solitary bee Andrena nigroaenea, which are lured to the flowers by visual cues and volatile semiochemicals." https://lnkd.in/dnjRu_H View in LinkedIn

CHEMICAL MIMICRY. "We have so far discovered six novel compounds, all 2,5-dialkylcyclohexan-1,3-diones, that are involved in the orchid chemical mimicry. These ‘chiloglottones’ represent a new class of natural product so far only known from Australian sexually deceptive orchids and their pollinators." https://lnkd.in/dCtjUuU View in LinkedIn

EXQUISITE PERFUME. "In sexually-deceptive Chiloglottis, a single odour compound is responsible for attracting male thynnine wasps. Small changes in the functional group of this compound may be responsible for the species-specific attraction of wasps shown by Chiloglottis." http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/5/1085.full.pdf View in LinkedIn

THE TRIPLE-WHAMMY SPECIAL. "A pinnacle of sexual deception is found in the demure Australian flying duck orchids (Paracaleana and Caleana). These use a triple-whammy pollination system involving a chemical cue and insectiform labellum combined with a touch-sensitive hinge on the labellum that catapults and momentarily holds the male insect against the pollination structures." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982208001723 View in LinkedIn

PERFUMED TOUCH. "In less ambiguous cases of sexual attraction, the flowers not only possess sex pheromone-like odors, but also morphological characteristics that mimic females of their pollinators, stimulating copulatory behavior of male insects. In repeated visits, pollen is transferred among flowers." https://lnkd.in/db9X2SK View in LinkedIn

INBREEDING DETERRENTS. "Pollination by deception, however, can reduce self-pollination and encourage pollen flow over longer distances, thus promoting outbreeding. Although some food deceptive orchids are isolated through postzygotic reproductive barriers, sexually deceptive orchids lack post-mating barriers and species isolation is achieved via specific pollinator attraction." http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-005-0636-y View in LinkedIn

SENSORY FRINGE EXPLOITATION. "In general, mimicry may be facilitated by exploiting visual vulnerabilities and evolve more readily at the peripheries of sensory perception. Many sexually deceptive orchids are predominantly red, green or white: colours that are all potentially difficult for hymenoptera to detect or distinguish from the background." http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-009-0611-0 View in LinkedIn

WAVELENGTH MIMICRY. "The orchids and wasps reflected predominantly red-orange wavelengths, but UV was also reflected by raised bumps on two orchid species and by female wasp wings. The orchids’ bright yellow pollinia contrasted significantly with their overall red colour. Orchid deception may therefore involve accurate and species-specific mimicry of wavelengths reflected by female wasps, and potentially, exploitation of insects’ innate attraction to UV and yellow wavelengths." http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-009-0611-0 View in LinkedIn

CALORY RESTRICTION. “Studies dating back a century have reported the healthspan and lifespan benefits of diets restricted in caloric content yet sufficient in macro- and micro-nutrients. These diets of “undernutrition without malnutrition” have been documented to have the ability to slow the progression of aging in multiple organ systems and in multiple species.” https://lnkd.in/efX_jTG View in LinkedIn