Comments on: The Beauty of Deceit

By: Aydin

Aydin — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 03:03:07 +0000

If Disa nivea plants are not as abundant as foxgloves, then it may not matter to the flies that they don’t have nectar. Not every foxglove would have nectar in it all the time. For example, a foxglove that has just been visited by a fly will be empty for the next fly that comes along soon after the first one. So, if the orchids are rare, the flies may simply “think” that they are empty foxgloves.

Incidentally, Darwin didn’t really have a farm, did he? He just had a big house with gardens.

By: D. B. Light

D. B. Light — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:47:55 +0000

Nice post — co-evolution is a tricky subject to discuss, but you are a great explainer.

By: linguist

linguist — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:16:20 +0000

Speaking of orchids, apparently they've got some stinky ones blooming right now in Australia. Good timing. http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-foul30.html

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 23:06:38 +0000

You've a real gift for explaining complex biology in simple terms. A few years ago I was in South Africa and met some of the scientists involved in the fly-flower research. It's one of the most charismatic study systems I've seen, both entomologically and botanically. For what it's worth, I snapped this picture of a fly visiting one of the nectar-producing flowers: http://myrmecos.net/insects/Philoliche1.html

By: Scott Belyea

Scott Belyea — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 20:53:27 +0000

A lovely article, with writing that matches the elegance of the topic.

However – “Over 8,000 species of orchids are believed to practice deceit.”

Hmmm. What does this say about the Intelligent Designer???

By: Cameron Peters

Cameron Peters — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:41:46 +0000

Great post, Carl. There was a PBS program titled Deep Jungle a few months ago and in one episode they followed a biologist who was trying to film the hawk moth for the first time. They kind of gave the impression the moth had not been seen before, just predicted; maybe it was the first time it had been photographed? By the way, I’m always impressed by the wide variety of sources you draw upon. Do you search and read the literature 20 hours a day, or do you have other means of finding all of this info? What’s your secret?

By: Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:11:44 +0000

Hello? Is this thing on? Testing…