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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Neuropharmacological Manipulation of Restrained and Free-flying Honey Bees, Apis mellifera

Neuropharmacological Manipulation of Restrained and Free-flying Honey Bees, Apis mellifera

Published on: November 26, 2016

Colour evolution within orchids depends on whether the pollinator is a bee or a fly.

M Shrestha¹, M Burd², J E Garcia¹

¹School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Plant Biology (Stuttgart, Germany)

|January 26, 2019

Summary

Orchid flower colors differ significantly between bee-pollinated and fly-pollinated species. Fly-pollinated orchids display unique spectral features, reflecting distinct visual adaptations to their specific insect pollinators.

Keywords:

Chromatic signal floral colour fly pollination orchids

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Area of Science:

Plant Biology
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Orchids are widely studied angiosperms for understanding biotic pollination.
Pollinator visual systems significantly influence floral evolution.
Insect pollinators, such as hymenopterans (bees) and dipterans (flies), have distinct visual capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between orchid flower color and pollinator visual systems.
To characterize the chromatic signals of bee-pollinated versus fly-pollinated orchid species.
To understand how pollinator-mediated selection shapes orchid visual signals.

Main Methods:

Analysis of floral reflectance spectra in relation to pollinator vision.
Modeling of dipteran and hymenopteran color vision.
Characterization of chromatic signals in orchid species from hymenopteran- and dipteran-pollinated communities.

Main Results:

Fly-pollinated flowers exhibit rapid reflectance changes at long wavelengths and lack them at short wavelengths.
Fly-pollinated flowers show more restricted color loci in visual models compared to bee-pollinated flowers.
Distinct spectral features differentiate fly-pollinated from bee-pollinated orchid signals.

Conclusions:

Orchid pollination syndromes are linked to specific visual signals tailored to pollinators.
Distinctive visual systems of flies drive unique spectral adaptations in fly-pollinated orchids.
Pollinator-mediated selection results in divergent chromatic signals between fly- and bee-pollinated orchids.