Question

Assertion : Colpa aurea is a specialised pollinating agent of orchid Ophrys speculum.
Reason : Male Colpa mistakes the Ophrys flower for female wasp to copulate with it.

• A. If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion
• B. If both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion
• C. If assertion is true but reason is false
• D. If both assertion and reason are false

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

For its pollination, the orchid Ophrys speculum has picked the most selective attraction in the entire animal kingdom. It is pollinated by a hairy wasp, Colpa aurea. The wasp has a fixed habit whereby its males leave the burrows for above ground existence about four weeks before the females emerge for the open air mating. The orchid opens its flowers about the same time the males appear and they possess an appearance and odour similar to those possessed by the female wasp. The inexperienced males mistake the Ophrys flowers for their female counterparts and land to perform the act of pseudocopulation. The insect repeats the act with a number of orchid flowers and carries pollinia from one flower to another thereby affecting pollination in the orchid.