With the appearance of spring, I have been noticing new couples and flirtations come alive after being dormant in the gloomy days of winter. When out with my girlfriend and her new beau last night, it was all the more apparent as the third wheel! This is not the first time that during this time of year, I’ve noticed an increased flirtation and coupling among my friends and I do wonder if there is an evolutionary reason for the heightened activity.

The woman who could probably give me a definitive answer is evolutionary biologist and award winning science journalist, Olivia Judson. Her first book was entitled Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to all Creation. It uses a playful literary tool to elucidate the evolutionary components of sex. The book sets up the chapters as advice columns. One such insect from the book complains:

“Dear Dr. Tatiana - My name’s Twiggy and I’m a stick insect. It’s with great embarrassment that I write to you while copulating, but my mate and I have been copulating for ten weeks already. I am bored out of my skull, but he shows no signs of flagging. He says it’s because he’s madly in love with me, but I think he’s just plain mad. How can I get him to quit? - Sick of Sex in India”.*

By anthropomorphizing animals and posing questions as a catalyst, Judson is able to fuel a fascinating outlet to dive into some of the racier sides of sex and really investigate the evolutionary reasons why they exist. No rock is unturned throughout the book. Frustrated birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, and bacteria write in and reveal quite startling behavior. The prologue of the book asserts that:

“Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to all Creation is a unique guidebook to sex. It reveals, for example when necrophilia is acceptable, and who should commit bestiality with whom. It discloses the best time to have a sex change, how to have a virgin birth, and when to eat your lover. It also advises on more mundane matters - such as male pregnancy and the joys of a detachable penis.”**

Most information is retained when it is enjoyed. My friend first recommended this book a few years ago. He was required to read it in his college class Darwin and Darwinism. We laughed about the required reading list, but I have often given this book to friends who have no interest in science and they have all enjoyed it despite the fact that delving into evolutionary biology is often quite difficult. More so, I found out only recently, this book is also part of the reference material for our docent program at the museum. Every year, Animal Sex Tours are led by the docents throughout the museum. The tours sell out every time and a great deal of creative insight has stemmed from this book. If you, as a reader, are curious - find out more about the author and the book at http://www.drtatiana.com/index.shtml. It is definitely a great science read for the beginning of spring!

Cat Aboudara is the Special Projects Manager at California Academy of Sciences and works in the public programs division. The Academy is a wonderful fit for her because of her curiosity about the natural world and her experience in working with native California wildlife.

* Judson, Olivia. Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice for All Creatures. 2002; Henry Holt, New York. Page 6.
** Judson, Olivia. Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice for All Creatures. 2002; Henry Holt, New York. Page 2.

It’s almost spring: time for sultry nights, birds, bees, renewal and the sweet promise of new love.

For us humans, that might mean flirty skirts, a new perfume, a dapper new hat or hip hair cut, all in the hopes of attracting a new, or very old and loyal, perfect mate. Plants also feel the call of spring and respond. They too show off their brightest colors, excrete their most seductive scents and attempt to lure a mate. Of course, plants can’t move (very quickly), so they hire a pollinating partner, and pay them to assist with reproduction.

Pollination is the act of moving pollen from the male anther to the female stigma. Plants work hard to attract these pollinators, and nectar is their delicious reward. Plants and their flowers take their job of attracting so seriously, that they have evolved to become irresistible to their pollinator. Pollinators, in turn, have adapted to a particular plant. Some of these Co-evolved partners have become so exclusive, that one could not survive without the other. Thus, attracting that pollinator is vital. Perhaps, with these tricks of attraction, we can all have a successful spring!

Like some humans, snapdragons have stooped to trapping. As an unsuspecting bee, just interested in a good dinner, sits on a lower petal, their weight causes the stamen to tip downward and dump dusty pollen on the bee’s fuzzy body to carry onward.

The honeysuckle takes advantage of those who prefer the nightlife. Nocturnal moths are turned on by the pale white flowers that glow in the moon light and the alluring nighttime scent.

The African Raflessia flower knows that their partner has an unusual fetish and radiates a once-a-year stench of rotting flesh. Its petals peel away, revealing a brownish, fleshy color and the smitten flies come at once.

Queen Anne’s lace takes pity on pollinators with short proboscises (ahem…) and offers pollen at the base of their tiny flowers, where bees, ants, wasps and beetles can easily dine.

The columbine flower offers very potent nectar in a bright, red, long flower: perfect for the active hummingbird with their long tongue and penchant for the color red.

In Madagascar, The 40ft Travelers Tree attracts the black and white ruffed lemur to climb the trunk, pull apart the flower bracts and stick their snout and tongues deep inside the flower. Nobody could do it better.

The agave plant works hard to attract the long-nosed bat with its night-blooming, tall flowers and strong nectar. (So if you were planning on a date that included tequila, you and the agave may thank a bat).

Now, why should we care about all of this wild romance? One reason is that one out of every three bites we take comes from a pollinated plant. Another is that without pollinating partners, we would miss out on such aphrodisiacs as strawberries, blueberries, garlic and chocolate.

So this spring, on your next dinner date, thank a pollinator for the delicious meal and know that the plants and I wish you the best of luck and love.

To learn more about pollinators, visit www.coevolution.org and attend a lecture on April 3^rd at The Oakland Zoo: Connecting Pollinators, Plants and People with Laurie Adams (www.oaklandzoo.org/news_and_events/detail/248).

Amy Gotliffe is Conservation Manager at The Oakland Zoo.