The sexual deception of orchids - Anne Gaskett
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TEDEd Animation
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Nearly 28,000 species of orchid grow all around the world, bearing every imaginable color, shape and pattern. There’s a cunning purpose behind these elaborate displays: many orchids trick insects into pollinating, sometimes even into having sex with them. How do they deploy these deceptive tactics? Anne Gaskett dives into the surprisingly complex ways orchids attract insects.
Would being fooled by orchids affect a pollinator? What might be some consequences for insects that mistakenly mate with orchids, or lay their eggs in the flowers?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Anne Gaskett
- Director Mette Ilene Holmriis
- Narrator Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Producer Ian Otto, The Animation Workshop
- Content Producer Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
- Associate Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Associate Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
- Script Editor Emma Bryce
- Fact-Checker Francisco Diez
