pseudocopulation
{{Short description|Biological process}}
{{multiple image
| title = Pseudocopulation in Pouyannian mimicry
| total_width = 400
| image1 = Dasyscolia_ciliata.jpg
| caption1 = Dupe: Dasyscolia ciliata, a scoliid wasp, attempting to copulate with a flower of the orchid Ophrys speculum
| image2 = Ophrys speculum d (cropped).JPG
| caption2 = Mimic: Ophrys speculum, the mirror bee orchid
}}
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.
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
In 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.{{cite web |title=Orchids Today and Yesterday |url=https://www.southcoastorchidsociety.com/orchidnotes_2021_04.html |website=South Coast Orchid Society |access-date=5 August 2024 |date=April 2021}}
In orchids
{{main|Pouyannian mimicry}}
Pseudocopulation by an insect on a flower is a result of Pouyannian mimicry, named after the French lawyer and amateur botanist Maurice-Alexandre Pouyanne. .{{Cite journal |last=Pasteur |first=Georges |title=A Classificatory Review of Mimicry Systems |year=1982 |journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |volume=13 |pages=169–199 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.13.110182.001125 |jstor=2097066}} This occurs in several orchids, whose flowers mimic the female mating signals of specific pollinator insects, such as bees.{{cite journal |last1=Vereecken |first1=Nicolas J. |last2=Schiestl |first2=Florian P. |title=The evolution of imperfect floral mimicry |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=105 |issue=21 |date=27 May 2008 |pmid=18508972 |pmc=2396721 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0800194105 |pages=7484–7488 |bibcode=2008PNAS..105.7484V |doi-access=free }} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Schlüter |first1=Philipp M. |last2=Schiestl |first2=Florian P. |title=Molecular mechanisms of floral mimicry in orchids |journal=Trends in Plant Science |volume=13 |issue=5 |date=2008 |doi=10.1016/j.tplants.2008.02.008 |pages=228–235 |pmid=18424223 |bibcode=2008TPS....13..228S }} 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.{{cite book |first1=Leendert |last1=van der Pijl |first2=Calaway H. |last2=Dodson |title=Orchid Flowers: Their Pollination and Evolution |chapter=Chapter 11: Mimicry and Deception |publisher=University of Miami Press |year=1966 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/orchidflowersthe0000pijl_y8t7/page/129 129–141] |isbn=0-87024-069-2 |oclc=310489511 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/orchidflowersthe0000pijl_y8t7/page/129 }}
In lizards
File:Aspidoscelis laredoensis, Hidalgo Co. TX; 15 Apr 2016.jpg is parthenogenetic, and practises pseudocopulation.]]
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.{{cite journal |last1=Paulissen |first1=Mark A. |last2=Walker |first2=James M. |title=Pseudocopulation in the Parthenogenetic Whiptail Lizard Cnemidophorus laredoensis (Teiidae) |journal=The Southwestern Naturalist |volume=34 |issue=2 |date=1989 |doi=10.2307/3671747 |page=296|jstor=3671747 }}{{cite journal |last1=Dias |first1=Brian George |last2=Crews |first2=David |title=Regulation of Pseudosexual Behavior in the Parthenogenetic Whiptail Lizard, Cnemidophorus uniparens |journal=Endocrinology |volume=149 |issue=9 |date=1 September 2008 |pmid=18483155 |pmc=2553382 |doi=10.1210/en.2008-0214 |pages=4622–4631}}{{-}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Mimicry}}
{{animal sexual behavior}}