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Was they flipped the butterflies. Thomas Rupp, a doctoral student in ecology at the Paris-Lodron University in Salzburg, was walking through a mountai

This Flower Smells Like Dead Insects to Attract Specific Pollinators A one-of-a-kind flower endemic to Greece is believed to emit a scent similar to that of decomposing insects in order to attract one of its main pollinators, the coffin fly. Flowers are usually associated with sweet, pleasant smells, but truth is that not all flowers smell nice. In fact, some smell like some of the grossest thing in the world, and that’s by design, because their pollinators are actually attracted to these disgusting scents. Take Aristolochia microstoma, a small flower endemic to Greece, which deceives its m...

Scientists recently discovered a flower that lures in and imprisons coffin flies with the smell of death. A. microstoma flowers found in various places on the ground. (Image credit: T. Rupp, B. Oelschlägel, K. Rabitsch et al.) Scientists recently discovered a flower that lures in and imprisons coffin flies with the smell of death.  The plant uses this stinky aroma to trick the insects into pollinating its flowers. This is the first time that a flower has been found to mimic the scent of dead insects as opposed to dead vertebrates, according to the new study. Between 4% and 6% of flowering p...

This Unique Flower Smells Like Dead Insects to Attract And Trap Coffin Flies 23 MAY 2021 Not all flowers smell like roses. An unusual plant in Greece gives off the scent of decaying insects, probably as a way to attract and trap coffin flies ( Megaselia scalaris). The stinky flower is called Aristolochia microstoma, and according to scientists, it's the first known case of a plant that reeks of dead invertebrates to spread its pollen.   Coffin flies, as their name suggests, seek out decaying matter in which they can lay their eggs, thus providing food for the hatched larvae. This usually ...

Frontiers The plant Aristolochia microstoma uses a unique trick: its flowers emit a fetid-musty scent that seems to mimic the smell of decomposing insects. Flies from the genus Megaselia (family Phoridae) likely get attracted to this smell while searching for insect corpses to mate over and lay their eggs in. When they enter a flower, they are imprisoned and first pollinate the female organs, before being covered with pollen by the male organs. The flower then releases them unharmed. “Here we show that the flowers of A. microstoma emit an unusual mix of volatiles that includes alkylpyrazine...