Resumen de Flower hijacks bee distress signal as a lure
A South African plant is pollinated by scavenging flies, yet it offers them no scraps of food. A scent that resembles the chemicals honeybees release when under attack seems to be key. Many plants attract insect pollinators by exuding substances. that mimic the smell of potential mates or rotting flesh. But the tricks many deceptive flowers play are still a mystery, says Stefan Dotterl at the University of Salzburg. Austria. Dotterl and his colleagues focused on solving the mystery for Ceropegia sandersonii, a plant that produces "pitfall flowers". These umbrella-shaped blossoms keep pollinators trapped within their petals for about a day before releasing them, now laden with pollen
