Sexy orchids make lousy lovers & other unusual relationships

228 Pages·2009·1.635 MB·English

by  Crump, Martha L.;Crump, Alan

sexy orchids make lousy lovers
S E X Y O R C H I D S M A K E
M A R T Y C R U M P
With illustrations by Alan Crump
L O U S Y L V E R S
other unusual relationships
&
The University of Chicago Press chicago & london
marty crump is an adjunct professor in the Department of
Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She is the au-
thor of Headless Males Make Great Lovers and In Search of the Golden
Frog, both published by the Press.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
Text © 2009 by The University of Chicago
Illustrations © 2009 by Alan Crump
All rights reserved. Published 2009
Printed in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-13: 978-0-226-12185-7 (cloth)
isbn-10: 0-226-12185-2 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crump, Martha L.
Sexy orchids make lousy lovers & other unusual relationships /
Marty Crump; with illustrations by Alan Crump.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
isbn-13: 978-0-226-12185-7 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn-10: 0-226-12185-2 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Animal behavior.
2. Animal-plant relationships. 3. Host-bacteria relationships.
4. Host-fungus relationships. I. Crump, Alan. II. Title.
ql751.c8827 2009
577.8—dc22
2009011857
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum require-
ments of the American National Standard for Information
Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ansi z39.48-1992.
For Karen and Robert, Marty’s grown children, and for Irma, Alan’s wife,
with thanks for their encouragement, support, and inspiration

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 · whatever happened to baby booby?
& Other Interactions among Animals of the Same Kind 1
Not Tonight, Honey 2
To Have and to Hold 8
You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours 13
Bubble Blowers, Pothole Plugs, and Other Group Hunting Roles 18
The Babysitters’ Club 24
Sound the Alarm! 30
An Intimate Act 35
Whatever Happened to Baby Booby? 40
2 · taken to the cleaners,
& Other Interactions between Animal Species 48
Hunting Partners 49
Taken to the Cleaners 58
She’s Got a Ticket to Ride 64
Houseguests, Unlike Dead Fish, Don’t Always Smell in Three Days 69
Be It Ever So Humble 76
Raising the Devil’s Spawn 83
Defense Contracts 89
Cow Pie No. 5 95
Audacious Pirates and Sneaky Burglars 101
3 · green, green plants of home,
& Other Interactions between Animals and Plants 107
Sexy Orchids Make Lousy Lovers, and Other Orchid Contrivances 108
A Seedy Neighborhood 114
Green, Green Plants of Home 120
Powerful Plant Products 126
There’s the Rub 133
Ants and Plants 137
4 · invasion of the body snatchers,
& Other Interactions with Fungi and Bacteria 145
Intestinal Microbes and the Gas We Pass 146
Deadly Dragon Drool 151
Mighty Mushrooms and Other Good Fungus among Us 156
Bombarded by Bacteria 163
A Cloak of Antibiotics 168
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 172
Body Snatchers Revisited 177
Conserve Interactions, Not Just Species 185
Glossary 187
References Consulted and Suggested Reading 189
Index 205
Preface
“g ross!”
What I had thought to be a sleeping weevil, poised on a twig
in the Ecuadorian rain forest, was in fact a corpse. Its “sleepiness” was
rigor mortis, and its posture expressed pure agony. Cottony white fi la-
ments smothered the weevil’s contorted body. From its back sprouted a
stiff, wire-like black thread, ending in a pinhead. A parasitic fungus had
invaded and taken over the beetle’s body. Before killing its victim, the
fungus induced the weevil to move to an exposed twig, where the fungus’s
spores could be tossed to the wind. That night and for many nights after-
ward, I had vivid nightmares of suffering the same fate, smothered with
cottony fi laments. A grotesque, giant mushroom always sprouted from
between my shoulder blades.
Nightmares aside, the interaction between insect and fungus is as
natural as bluebird parents feeding their hungry chicks. Living organisms
everywhere interact with members of the same and different species. Few
relationships are as nightmarish as the parasitic fungus-insect interaction;
many are win-win relationships breeding good fellowship on both sides.
Join me in celebrating the diversity of relationships.
I’ve arranged this diversity into four groupings. The fi rst involves inter-
actions between individuals of the same species. For example, male long-
tailed macaques “pay” females for sex, vampire bats share blood meals,
and unborn sand sharks kill their siblings.
The second section focuses on interactions between animal species.
Examples include fi sh that form hunting partnerships, mites that hitch-
hike in hummingbird nostrils, and mosquitoes that steal food from ants.
Interactions between plants and animals comprise the third section.
You may be surprised at some animals that use plants for medicines,
stimulants, and hallucinogens. Find out why “Mexican jumping beans”
jump, and why sexy orchids make lousy lovers for wasps and fl ies.
The fourth section addresses interactions between the “lowly”
organisms—bacteria and fungi—and plants and animals. Did you