Statement I: The Mediterranean orchid Ophrys employs ‘sexual deceit’ to get pollination done by a species of bee.
Statement II: One petal of its flower bears an uncanny resemblance to the female of the bee in size, colour and markings.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Both Statement I and Statement II are correct.
Statement I — True. Many flowers offer rewards such as nectar and pollen to their pollinators, but not all orchids do. Ophrys, a Mediterranean orchid, offers none. It deceives a male bee into visiting it, which the book calls ‘sexual deceit’. The bee carries pollen from one flower to the next.
Statement II — True. The deceit works because one petal looks like the female bee in size, colour and markings. The male bee tries to mate with this petal (pseudocopulation), and pollen is dusted onto it. This shows co-evolution: if the female bee’s colour pattern changed, pollination would suffer unless the petal changed too.
NCERT Extract:
Population Interactions – “… Not all orchids offer rewards. The Mediterranean orchid Ophrys employs ‘sexual deceit’ to get pollination done by a species of bee. One petal of its flower bears an uncanny resemblance to the female of the bee in size, colour and markings. The male bee is attracted to what it perceives as a female, ‘pseudocopulates’ with the flower, and during that process is dusted with pollen from the flower. When this same bee ‘pseudocopulates’ with another flower, it transfers pollen to it and thus, pollinates the flower.”