Re: #*!% fragrance!

John Jones writes...

>You sure it is the fragrance? Could it be infrared, ultraviolet, or other cue?

The Japanese beetle follows an odor vector to find a food source. This is
exploited in the beetle traps used to collect them. (And your neighbors
pests and their neighbors.....) The others I mentioned are not well
documented as to food search strategy and require observation to learn what
is attracting them.

If you do not have firm knowledge of whether a pest is following visual
cues or an odor trail; watch the approach to the attractant. If the cue is
visual, the pest will take a straight line to the flower. If the cue is
odor, the insect will 'quarter' or curve back and forth as it flies in and
out of the downwind odor plume. The flight pattern for visuals versus odor
seekers seems to be built-in, and optimized for successful foraging using
their particular search strategy.


>> Why not breed for an odorless rebloomer?

>As one who likes fragrance, my question is why, not why not...

Fragrance in flowers is a joy when it does not detract from their bloom
span. A spring garden full of fragrant iris overwhelms the ability of pests
to concentrate on any one source. Summer and fall rebloom is much more
scanty and spread out than is the main flush of bloom. Pests gang up on the
few flowers available at any one time and can strip a bloom in short order.
Those rebloomers that are relatively scentless go mostly unscathed by the
main summertime flower eating pests.

Best regards,

Mike Lowe, mikelowe@tricities.net   Virginia, USA
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