Orchids attract hornets with the scent of their prey

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated:


A type of orchid entices pollen-carrying hornets by wearing the scent of their favourite prey, scientists have found.

Dendrobium sinense grows on the Chinese island of Hainan, where hornets capture honeybees to serve as food for their larvae.

It fools the hornets by producing a rare scent chemical, never before found in any plant, that honeybees use as an alarm signal.

Dendrobium sinense

Plant of prey: Dendrobium sinense, which grows on the Chinese island of Hainan, emit a rare scent to lure hornets

The predatory insects recognise the smell and pounce on the flowers, only to find the larder empty. But they carry pollen with them to the next orchid that lures them into its honeybee trap.

Scientists had noticed that the hornet, Vespa bicolor, was a frequent visitor to D. sinense orchids.

Rather than landing and pausing on the petals, like most pollinators, the hornets instead swooped in on the red centre of the flower - as if attacking prey.

The compound produced by the orchids, called Z-11-eicosen-1-ol, is a honeybee alarm pheromone that can be detected by the antennae of worker hornets.

Study leader Professor Manfred Ayasse, from the University of Ulm in Germany, said: 'Various species of Vespa are problems for bee keepers because they plunder the hives.

'Besides this, their ravages of fruit crops make hornets a serious pest to man. Our results could be used to develop environmentally responsible traps for pest hornets.'

The findings are published today in the journal Current Biology.

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