Phrase guide

Pouyannian mimicry

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A type of mimicry exhibited by some plants, whereby certain flower parts resemble a (female) potential mate for a male of a pollinator species, thus inducing pseudocopulation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

Examples

  • 2017, Wiley Blevins, Ninja Plants, Lerner Publishing Group (Twenty-First Century Books), page 52, The plant world is full of mimics. In Pouyannian mimicry, a flower mimics a female insect to attract the right male pollinator.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined 1982 by Georges Pasteur, after Maurice-Alexandre Pouyanne, who described the behaviour in orchids in a 1916 paper.