Pollinator Deception in the Orchid Mantis

• Published in: The American naturalist 2014-01, Vol.183 (1), p.126-132
• Main Authors: O’Hanlon, James C., Holwell, Gregory I., Herberstein, Marie E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Biological; Angiosperms; Animal camouflage; Animal mimicry; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Color; Colors; Female; Flowers; Flowers & plants; Insect pollination; Insecta - physiology; Insects; Mimicry; Natural History Note; Nonnative species; Nonresidents; Orchidaceae; Plant reproduction; Pollinating insects; Pollination; Predation; Predators; Predatory insects; Spectral reflectance; Spiders
• ISSN: 0003-0147; 1537-5323
• DOI: 10.1086/673858

Mimicry has evolved in contexts such as camouflage, predator deterrence, luring of prey, and pollinator attraction. Mimicry of flowers has until now been demonstrated only in angiosperms, yet it has been hypothesized that the Malaysian orchid mantisHymenopus coronatusmimics a flower to attract pollinators as prey. Despite the popularity of this charismatic insect, this long-discussed hypothesis has never been experimentally investigated. We found that, as predicted for mimicry, the color ofH. coronatusis indistinguishable from the color of sympatric flowers for hymenopteran pollinators. Field experiments show that isolated mantises attract wild pollinators at a rate even higher than flowers and capture these pollinators as prey items. After more than a century of conjecture, we provide the first experimental evidence of pollinator deception in the orchid mantis and the first description of a unique predatory strategy that has not been documented in any other animal species.