Male orchid bees collect scents from the world and amass them into a cocktail which they use to court females. They are perfume makers. Mating takes seconds, but gathering and blending their scents takes their entire adult lives. Although he hadn’t yet tested the hypothesis, my friend had a strong hunch that the bees were harvesting fungal compounds to add to their bouquets. Orchid bees are known to have a taste for complex aromatic chemicals, many of which are produced by fungi that break down wood.
