pseudocopulation

British  

/ ˌsjuːdəʊˌkɒpjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. botany pollination of plants, esp orchids, by male insects while attempting to mate with flowers that resemble the female insect

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Example Sentences

In the future, Dr. Shipway hopes to secure funding to study pseudocopulation more formally, with discrete numbers of shipworms spaced apart in the tank to see how they interact, and perhaps to sleuth out whether The Wipe is an ingenious strategy or a wiggly fluke.

From New York Times

Undaunted, the pair assume their species’ pseudocopulation position and forge ahead with spawning.

From Scientific American

This ruse, which scientists call pseudocopulation, works because the orchid tends to bloom during a specific window each spring — shortly after lonely male bees emerge from hibernation but before female bees appear.

From New York Times

Psychopsis orchids look a whole lot like butterflies, and they probably evolved to trick gullible bugs into pollinating them through pseudocopulation.

From Washington Times