Published in 2011 Christian Ziegler's homage to orchids, Deceptive Beauties, is illustrated with images showing the wide variety of colors and shapes this floral family has evolved. Most interesting is the coverage of orchids' elaborate pollination techniques. Through methods of deception the blooms lure bees with the offers of food and sex with great success. See images of bucket orchids which trap bees in their sweet-scented blooms and force them to exit through a portal where a pollen packet is expertly deposited on their backs; carrion flies are lured with the scent of rotting flesh by the Masdevallia flowers and wasps that eagerly visit a Drakaea orchid fooled by faux female wasp pheromones. Through clever deception these delicate flowers reach their goal - pollination and survival of their species.
