IT'S A MYTH: TOUCHING ORCHID PLANTS DOES NOT AFFECT THEIR PREDATION

摘要

"Don't touch the orchids because, if you do, animals are more likely to eat them". This surprising instruction was given to us on several occasions when we were walking in the bush, both in Victoria and Tasmania. The claim means more to us now that we have active orchid monitoring programs at several locations in Tasmania, where we need to handle orchid plants to make various measurements. However, try as we might, we could not think of a plausible reason why touching would lead to this dramatic effect.