Blossom scents

A: A grass fly visiting flowers; B: An ant-hunter spider (a phenomenon that attracts kleptoparasitic flies). Credit: Mochizuki 2025.

World's first documented: Plant mimics the scent of wounded ants to attract pollinators

Vincetoxicum nakaianum, described only last year, emits a scent that resembles ants being attacked by spiders—and thus lures grass flies that feed on wounded prey and pollinate its flowers. Research pushes the boundaries of flower mimicry