Vermiculiphily: Larvae Pollinating Orchids!

Abstract

Orchids are truly extraordinary organisms exhibiting a wide range of pollination mechanism, many of which awaits discovery. Epipactis veratrifolia is a terrestrial orchid that has been reported to be pollinated by various species of hoverflies in Israel1,2. This orchid is known to emit the smell of aphid pheromone that attracts hoverflies, which lay eggs inside the flower and in the process pollinate them. Recently, we observed a species of hoverfly (Ischiodon scutellaris) pollinate the same orchid species in the Western Himalaya while laying eggs inside the flowers. Ischiodon scutellaris is being reported for the first time as pollinator of this orchid. However, all flowers don’t get pollinated, even though insects visit them and lay eggs inside. In this communication we reveal the fate of those orchid flowers which are visited by the flies but are left unpollinated.