What are the tricks used by orchids to atract insects ?

The tricks used by the orchids to attract insects are of sexual nature and they consist in producing flowers which looks like a female insect or even smell like the female, in this way, males being attracted by the fake females, waiting to mate with them. This behavior is well-known as "sexual deception". The deceived insects are usually bees or wasps males, which abandon the fake female, and go to another one, with their bodies covered by pollen.

Because of the misleading appearances, the orchid looking like a female wasp or female bee, can attract only male wasp or bee, and no ants, flies or other insects. This thing could be possible if the behavior of attracting the prey would be food deception, when the flower smells or look like the wanted food.

This kind of behavior is good for selection, because of the higher amounts of pollen transported from one orchid to another orchid from the same species. At the species with a large number of pollinators, this efficiency is decreased all at once with the quantity of pollen fallen on the ground or put into another species.