Animalau Blog

Roots dig into Odette’s body

Odile is blooming from the beauty of Odette as the orchid imitates the figure of a female bee.

This is my second painting in a series I am working on. You can find the first one and a more thorough description of the theme by clicking here!

-Christie

In Swan Lake, the evil Von Rothbart tricks Prince Siegfried into proclaiming his love for a black swan disguised as his true love, Odette. Such deception and powerful disguise seem otherworldly or from a folktale, but in truth these themes are real in the animal world. Ophrys apifera successfully reproduces through pseudocopulation, as the orchid resembles a female bee with such precision that the male is fooled into copulating with the orchid, which then enables the flower to pollinate. It is a scientific name for that dark magic, tricking little prince bees into professing their love to the wrong girl (or species!).

The bluebird is another victim of the dark side of evolution. The cowbird lays its egg in a bluebird’s nest and because the cowbird’s egg resembles the bluebird’s, the bluebird mother nurtures this parasite has her own. When the chicks are hatched, the cowbird enthusiastically begs for food and grows rapidly (what’s also very interesting is that cowbirds don’t imprint). The bluebird mother is deceived and burdened while the cowbird goes off and lays 50 or more eggs.

-Christie