Biology · Organisms and Populations · NEET
No. In mutualism both partners get a benefit. In Ophrys sexual deceit only the orchid benefits (it gets pollinated). The male bee gets nothing at all, no nectar and no real mate. So this is a one-sided trick, not mutualism. NCERT lists it under pollination but clearly says 'not all orchids offer rewards' and Ophrys uses deceit.
No reward is given. Normal flowers pay a 'fee' of nectar or pollen to their pollinators. Ophrys gives nothing. It only fools the male bee by making one petal look like a female bee. This is why NCERT calls it 'sexual deceit', the bee is cheated into doing the pollination for free.
Pseudocopulation means 'false mating'. The male bee sees the petal that looks like a female bee and tries to mate with it. During this attempt, pollen from the flower sticks to the bee's body. When the same bee tries to pseudocopulate with another Ophrys flower, it transfers that pollen and pollinates it. 'Pseudo' = false, 'copulation' = mating.
Co-evolution means two species evolve together, each affecting the other. If the female bee's colour or markings change even slightly during evolution, the male bee will no longer be fooled, and pollination will fail. So the orchid petal must also change (evolve) to keep matching the female bee. Their changes are linked, this is co-evolution. NCERT stresses this point directly.
Fig and fig wasp is obligate MUTUALISM (+/+): the wasp pollinates the fig, and in return the fig gives some seeds as food for the wasp larvae. Both benefit. Ophrys and bee is DECEIT: only the orchid benefits, the bee is cheated and gets nothing. Both appear in the pollination section, but the outcome for the insect is opposite.
Which one of the following is an appropriate example of sexual deceit?
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
It is a strategy where a flower fools an insect into pollinating it without giving any reward. The Ophrys orchid makes one petal look like a female bee, so the male bee tries to mate with it and carries away pollen.
The Mediterranean orchid Ophrys shows sexual deceit. It fools a male bee (a species of bee/bumblebee) by mimicking the female bee on one of its petals.
No. The male bee gets no nectar and no real mate. Only the orchid benefits by getting pollinated. That is why it is called deceit and not mutualism.
Because of co-evolution. If the female bee changes colour or markings, the male bee stops being fooled and pollination drops. So the orchid must evolve to keep the petal looking like the current female bee.
