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Fairy lanterns may lure pollinators by mimicking fungi

© The Ecological Society of America Front Ecol Environ doi:10.1002/fee.2342 Fairy lanterns may lure pollinators by mimicking fungi Are they mushrooms, common sea slugs, or sea anemones? Many people may struggle to determine whether these organisms are terrestrial or marine in origin based on the external morphology alone. In fact, the two species presented here belong to Thismia (Thismia hexagona var grandiflora and Thismia abei ), a genus of nonphotosynthetic plants commonly known as fairy lanterns. Under what selective pressures have their peculiar flowers evolved? Botanists and evolutionary ecologists believe that flower diversity results from the adaptations of plants to specific pollinators. However, the types of insects that pollinate fairy lanterns remain a mystery. Given the extreme rarity of Thismia species, half of which have not been rediscovered after their description as new species, it is reasonable that the observations of pollinators are highly infrequent! On Kozu Island, Japan, we were fortunate to observe frugivorous fungus gnats (Bradysia atracornea) visiting T abei. The flowers emitted a notably strong, musty odor. Our observations may provide clues to solve the riddle of the oddly shaped flowers of fairy lanterns: perhaps the plants employ a mushroomlike appearance and odor to attract fungus gnats as a cheating strategy. Do fairy lanterns indeed mimic mushrooms to exploit the innate preference of the frugivorous pollinators toward mushrooms? If so, which type of mimicry (visual or olfactory) serves as a stronger attractant? These questions warrant further research.