capsella

Barry Meyers-Rice (barry@as.arizona.edu)
Sat, 14 May 94 08:11:41 MST

>Why does it have to be in a water environment? The seed exudes the sticky
>material which has some sort of attractant to insects. Operates like a
>flypaper. If the seed is on bone dry soil then being wet and sticky is an
>attractant in itself.

Patrick

Hmm. Perhaps. I was under the impression that the seed coat has some sort
of surface that, upon being moistened, is merely adhesive. I don't know if
the seed coat actually exudes a moist mucous or substance. Certainly, if the
seeds actually release some chemicals which act as an attractant to
inverts, and then capture them, I would be impressed.

What would really be compelling evidence is proof that this mechanism is
being used by _Capsella bursa-pastoris_ in the field. Sure, you can maybe get
them to do this in contrived circumstances, but do the plants actually do it
when not sitting in the lab?

Just a question...when a bug is caught in the mucous surround these seeds
and in coated and trapped, would you say it has been....En-Capsella-ted?

:)

B