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Imagine walking into the restaurant for a quick lunch. Instead of a steaming hot meal, you are served an energy drink laced with alcohols and narcotics. Shocking? Please spare a thought for those who unwittingly walk into this trap every single day. That’s the story of the wasp and the scheming Helleborine orchid (Epipactis helleborine) for you!
Fig 1: The scheming flower – Helleborine orchid (Epipactis helleborine) (Photo credit: iStock/Tibor Szomoru)
How can such an innocent-looking flower be accused of such a scandalous act? Actually, this orchid is a beauty with brains – a master chemist. It cooks up a sugary nectar to reward the pollinators - wasps in this case. Thereafter, the flower turns sinister and manufactures a cocktail of chemicals, including alcohols and opioids, to lure the pollinators deep inside and intoxicate them. Too high to find their way out, the stupefied wasps fumble, stumble and tumble their way around the insides of the flower. And while they are at it, the orchid’s pollinium, a sticky mass of pollen grains, gets glued to their head.
Fig 2: The wasp, perched on the Helleborine orchid, wondering “How can I get this thing off me?” (Photo credit: Image by Orchi on Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0)1
Anecdotal accounts talk of the drunken, bewildered wasps’ desperate attempts to get the irritating pollinium sacs off their heads. Strangely, and that’s the power of a drug high, the wasp is seemingly unable to resist the temptation to visit another flower for yet another laced drink. Of course, the orchid counts this as a victory, for the pollinium now has a higher chance of getting transferred to the female part of this flower. Hence, for the Helleborine orchid, it is mission accomplished. For the wasp, it is time for a terrible hangover after a drunk day at work!
Fig 3: Drunk at work! (Photo credit: iStock/cthoman)
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1 Thanks to Orchi for this image on Wikimedia Commons shared under license CC-BY-SA-3.0