SELECTIVE ATTRACTION OF MALE EUGLOSSINE BEES TO ORCHID FLORAL FRAGRANCES AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN LONG DISTANCE POLLEN FLOW.

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It has been known for some time that male bees of the tribe Euglossini visit and often pollinate various orchid flowers (Dodson and Frymire, 1961a, 1961b; Dodson, 1962, 1967; Vogel, 1963, 1966; van der Pijl and Dodson, 1966; Dressler, 1967, 1968a, 1968b). The syndrome of pollination was discussed by Dressler (1968b). He noted that the orchid flowers that are pollinated exclusively by male euglossine bees are very fragrant, but are almost always lacking in nectar; therefore, no food is present. The source of the attraction was recognized as the fragrance of the flower, but the identity of the odor components was not known for a number of years. Eleven compounds from orchid floral fragrances were identified (Hills et al., 1968), but only some of the compounds were shown to be attractants of male euglossine bees (Adams, 1968; Dodson et al., 1969). Adams showed that some of the compounds from orchid fragrances modified the attraction potential of other fragrance components, and that some of the compounds were not attractive to male euglossine bees. Several additional compounds have been identified from orchid floral fragrances (Dodson and Williams, unpublished), some of which have been demonstrated in field tests to be active attractants of male euglossines, while other compounds have been shown to modify or reduce the attraction potential of various other odor components. The behavior of the bees on the flowers and at the isolated odor components has