Symbiotic Relationships
The Bee and the Orchid
As human beings, we often
mistake the big things surrounding our world as the little things. Take flowers
as an example, without flourishing plants everything we’ve ever known would be
replaced by abundances of green monotone. Not only do they supply a food source
to aeronautical pollinators, such as bees, but also allow essential life.
Bees and
orchids share a mutualistic symbiotic relationship, in which complementation
occurs without harm. In fact, each organism depends on the other for individual
life support. Theoretically, if there were no orchids to pollinate – there
certainly wouldn’t be any bees to survive. Initially, orchids are not capable of
living on their own nor can the bee attract its mate astray from the
significant scent.
When you
happen to dissect the orchid itself, its found to be precisely constructed for
the flying insect. The flower lends the bee a “landing platform” and later fills
their stomachs when collecting perfumes. Orchids stick packets of pollen onto
the bees that soon become honey when water within it diminishes.
A few
orchids depend entirely on pollination of male bees for reproduction and
substance. Additionally, these flowers are known for, believe it or not,
mimicking other botanical organisms. When pollinated by hummingbirds and
butterflies, orchids are perceived to be much warmer colors. Whereas when
nectar lovers decide to feed, they tend to mimic antlers of other plant types
by coloring blotchy yellow.
With that
in mind, the symbiotic relationship between the orchid and the bee entails a
certain partnership, in which not all organisms merely exist through one single
species. We can justify that multiple relationships adequately display how
interconnected the natural world really may be. After all, to what extent is
the orchid benefiting without the bee or in other case, what good is the bee
without the orchid. As we all rightly wonder, what came first the chicken or
the egg?
References:
Kate, Ihle. "Bee Jeweled." Orchid Bees. ASU
- Ask A Biologist, 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.
MORETHINKING. "The Orchid and the Bee (An Introduction
to Symbiosis in Nature)." More Thinking. More Thinking, n.d. Web. 07
Sept. 2014.
Company, Houghton Miffin.
"Symbiotic+Relationships." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d.
Web. 07 Sept. 2014.
Horak, David. "Orchids and Their Pollinators." Brooklyn
Botanic Garden. BBG, 1 Apr. 2004. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.
Orkin. "What Do Honey Bees Collect: Bee Pollen
Collection." Orkin. Orkin, n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.
