Pseudocopulation is a behavior similar to copulation that serves a reproductive function for one or both participants but does not involve actual sexual union between the individuals. It is most generally applied to a pollinator attempting to copulate with a flower adapted to mimic a potential female mate. The resemblance may be visual, but the key stimuli are often chemical and tactile. The form of mimicry in plants that deceives an insect into pseudocopulation is called Pouyannian mimicry after the French lawyer and amateur botanist Maurice-Alexandre Pouyanne.
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A non-mimetic form of pseudocopulation has been observed in some parthenogenetic, all-female species of lizard. The behaviour does not appear to be necessary to trigger parthenogenesis.
Definition
editIn zoology, pseudocopulation is attempted copulation that serves a reproductive function for one or both participants but does not involve actual sexual union between the individuals.[1]
In orchids
editPseudocopulation by an insect on a flower is a result of Pouyannian mimicry, named after the French lawyer and amateur botanist Maurice-Alexandre Pouyanne. .[1][2] This occurs in several orchids, whose flowers mimic the female mating signals of specific pollinator insects, such as bees.[3] The mimicry results in attempted copulation by males of the pollinator species, facilitating pollen transfer. Bee orchids (Ophrys apifera) and fly orchids (Ophrys insectifera), specifically, utilize flower morphology, coloration, and scent to deceive their respective pollinators. These orchids have evolved traits matching the preferences of specific pollinator niches, leading to adaptive speciation.[4] Although bee and fly orchids are visual mimics of their pollinators, visual traits are not the only (nor the most important) ones mimicked to increase attraction.[5]
In lizards
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Some lizard species, such as the Laredo striped whiptail (Aspidoscelis [Cnemidophorus] laredoensis) and the Desert grassland whiptail lizard (A. uniparens), consist only of females, which reproduce by parthenogenesis. Some of these species have been observed to practise pseudocopulation in captivity, but it does not appear to be required to trigger parthenogenesis.[6][7]
References
edit- ^ a b "Orchids Today and Yesterday". South Coast Orchid Society. April 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ Pasteur, Georges (1982). "A Classificatory Review of Mimicry Systems". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 13: 169–199. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.13.110182.001125. JSTOR 2097066.
- ^ Vereecken, Nicolas J.; Schiestl, Florian P. (27 May 2008). "The evolution of imperfect floral mimicry". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (21): 7484–7488. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.7484V. doi:10.1073/pnas.0800194105. PMC 2396721. PMID 18508972.
- ^ Schlüter, Philipp M.; Schiestl, Florian P. (2008). "Molecular mechanisms of floral mimicry in orchids". Trends in Plant Science. 13 (5): 228–235. Bibcode:2008TPS....13..228S. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2008.02.008. PMID 18424223.
- ^ van der Pijl, Leendert; Dodson, Calaway H. (1966). "Chapter 11: Mimicry and Deception". Orchid Flowers: Their Pollination and Evolution. University of Miami Press. pp. 129–141. ISBN 0-87024-069-2. OCLC 310489511.
- ^ Paulissen, Mark A.; Walker, James M. (1989). "Pseudocopulation in the Parthenogenetic Whiptail Lizard Cnemidophorus laredoensis (Teiidae)". The Southwestern Naturalist. 34 (2): 296. doi:10.2307/3671747. JSTOR 3671747.
- ^ Dias, Brian George; Crews, David (1 September 2008). "Regulation of Pseudosexual Behavior in the Parthenogenetic Whiptail Lizard, Cnemidophorus uniparens". Endocrinology. 149 (9): 4622–4631. doi:10.1210/en.2008-0214. PMC 2553382. PMID 18483155.