“The Hammer Orchids resemble the female Thynnids wasp." Ryan tells Neil, “Females are flightless; when the season for love dawns, the Thynnids climbs to the top of a plant. She sends pheromones — which is the perfume of love — into the air, waiting for some male Lochinvar Thynnids to swoop in and fly away with her, mating in midair."
“What," Neil asks, “is a Lochinvar? Is it a kind of orchid?"
“No," Ryan laughs, “It's a lover-boy, a Casanova, someone ladies like."
“Like you," Neil asks? “Mom says you are irresistible — to a certain kind of girl."
Ryan laughs again, uneasily this time.
“Hammer Orchids perch on a stem's tip looking like a demure, shy female. They too waft pheromones into the air. Drawn by scent, deceived by sight, Thynnids males spend their love on eggless petals."
“H
