A floral organ moving like a caterpillar for pollinating  

作　　者：Zhong-Jian LIU Li-Jun CHEN Ke-Wei LIU Li-Qiang LI Wen-Hui RAO 

机构地区：[1]The National Orchid Conservation Center of China/The Orchid Conservation ＆ Research Center of Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518114, China [2]School of Life Sciences, University of Science ＆ Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China [3]The Center for Biotechnology and BioMedicine, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China [4]College of Forestry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China

出　　处：《Journal of Systematics and Evolution》2010年第2期102-108,共7页植物分类学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Program of Wild Life Conservation and Nature Reserve Construction,China (No.2005-122);the Science & Technology Projectof Shenzhen,China (No. 2006-464)

摘　　要：A new pollination mechanism is reported of an orchid species, Bulbophyllum penicillium, based on a field observation in Southeast Yunnan of China. This species has a sensitive lip, and there is a distance of 2-3 mm between it and column apex. Once the lip is touched by a landing insect, it will move up and down or swing left and right continuously, just like a moving caterpillar. By suck a lip movement, the pollinator, a very small fruit fly （Drosophila sp.） ca. 1 mm in height, will be pressed toward the column apex where anther and stigma are located, and then cross-pollination takes place. This unique mode of pollination, depending on the movement of lip rather than insect itself, has never been found before in either Orchidaceae or other families of angiosperms.A new pollination mechanism is reported of an orchid species, Bulbophyllum penicillium, based on a field observation in Southeast Yunnan of China. This species has a sensitive lip, and there is a distance of 2-3 mm between it and column apex. Once the lip is touched by a landing insect, it will move up and down or swing left and right continuously, just like a moving caterpillar. By suck a lip movement, the pollinator, a very small fruit fly （Drosophila sp.） ca. 1 mm in height, will be pressed toward the column apex where anther and stigma are located, and then cross-pollination takes place. This unique mode of pollination, depending on the movement of lip rather than insect itself, has never been found before in either Orchidaceae or other families of angiosperms.

关 键 词：pollination mechanism Bulbophyllum penicillium DROSOPHILA lip movement. 

分 类 号：S642.2[农业科学—蔬菜学] S763.7[农业科学—园艺学]