Donkey Orchids, Rewarding Pea Plants and Deceived Bees:A Mimicry Based on Colour Illusion

摘要

Mimicry was first recognised in animals by Henry Walter Bates in 1862, who discovered that palatable butterflies were imitating the wing colour pattern of unpalatable butterflies in order to repel predators. However, the discovery of floral mimicry predated Bate's work. Sprengel in 1793, interpreted the carrion odour emanated by the succulent South African plant Stapelia hirsuta, as a deceit pollination system to attract flies.