The chemical and visual basis in the pollination of the neotropical sexually deceptive orchid Telipogon peruvianus (Orchidaceae)

What is it about?

Flowers of the orchid species Telipogon peruvianus are pollinated by male tachinid flies but the basis of the pollinator attraction was unknown. We show that Telipogon peruvianus flowers employ chemical cues for for pollination and that they may mimic a model composed of two organims, a female fly and a daisy capitulum. This is the first evidence of a model composed of more than one organism and the first sexually deceptive pollination system elucidated from the neotropics.

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