Bees’ Orchid Sex Frenzy

By Willliam Scribe

Some orchids drive male bees so wild that the sex-obsessed insects prefer to try and mate with the flowers than females of their own species.

New research published this week shows that the orchids produce a perfume, undetectable to humans, which is very similar, but subtly different, to the sex pheromones of female mining bees. The strange thing is that male bees find the plant’s perfume more alluring than the love juice of their own ladies.

The orchids, which use amorous males to carry pollen between flowers, produce the same sex chemicals as females, but in slightly different ratios; and it’s this difference which has the effect.

Orchid Fact

Having evolved around 80 million years ago, there is good evidence that orchids were very quickly buffooning bees into pollinating for free.

Males bees are attracted by novelty in sex pheromones because it helps them to avoid breeding with close relatives. So as far as they are concerned the orchids, which also look and feel like a big juicy mamma-to-be, represent a mysterious and alluring foreigner with that special… je ne sais quoi. And who can blame them for fancying a bit of that?

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