A Unique Scent of Injured Ants
A type of Japanese dogsbane, Vincetoxicum nakaianum, releases a scent identical to wounded ants’ distress signal, drawing in scavenging flies that unwittingly pollinate it.
Botanist Ko Mochizuki of the University of Tokyo discovered the plant’s unusual scent after noticing clouds of scavenging grass flies hovering around its flowers.
The plant’s odor is a near-perfect chemical match to the distress signals released by injured ants.
Experiments revealed that this trick dupes the flies into visiting and inadvertently pollinating the blooms.
Author's summary: Japanese flower lures pollinators with ant scent.
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