1259: Bee Orchid - Revision history

Lettherebedarklight: /* Transcript */ add Category:Comics with a Spanish translation

2025-12-15T08:56:37Z

‎Transcript: add Category:Comics with a Spanish translation

SilverTheTerribleMathematician: /* Explanation */

2022-12-13T21:26:23Z

‎Explanation

SilverTheTerribleMathematician: /* Explanation */

2022-12-13T21:20:24Z

‎Explanation

JLZ0kTC5 at 10:00, 21 October 2022

2022-10-21T10:00:47Z

Davidy22: Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

2022-05-21T02:50:45Z

Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

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Explain xkcd server admin at 00:03, 21 May 2022

2022-05-21T00:03:18Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T23:51:28Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 23:51, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T23:51:21Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T23:28:59Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 23:28, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T23:28:34Z

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← Older revision		Revision as of 08:56, 15 December 2025
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	[[Category:Bees]]		[[Category:Bees]]
	[[Category:Aliens]]		[[Category:Aliens]]
		+	[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

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 The comic plays on the subject of levels of indirectness of memory or knowledge representation. The female bee is extinct, remembered only by the male bee's perception of her; the male bee is also extinct, but its memory of the female is preserved in the orchid's shape; the orchid, due to self-pollination, is nearing extinction, but the memory of the female bee is now preserved by Beret Guy's memory of the orchid, remembering the male bee's memory of her.
-The title text culminates this theme by invoking the idea that some day human beings will, likewise, be extinct, and aliens will be able to learn about us through the distorted and faded representations of ourselves that we leave behind - {{w|Axe (brand)|Axe}} commercials which, like the orchid, present an idealized form to deceptively attract mates. We are left to speculate whether these aliens will be able to construct, somehow, through three levels of indirectness (the human representation, the orchid's representation and the male bee's perception) any memory of the female Eucera, and, if so, how distorted a view of the bee it will be.
+The title text culminates this theme by invoking the idea that some day human beings will, likewise, be extinct, and aliens will be able to learn about us through the distorted and faded representations of ourselves that we leave behind - {{w|Axe (brand)|Axe}} commercials, which, like the orchid, present an idealized form to deceptively attract mates. We are left to speculate whether these aliens will be able to construct, somehow, through three levels of indirectness (the human representation, the orchid's representation and the male bee's perception) any memory of the female Eucera, and, if so, how distorted a view of the bee it will be.
 ==Transcript==

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 Megan is explaining the evolutionary [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_02.html phenomenon] of mimicry of female insects which fools male insects into trying to mate with the flower ({{w|pseudocopulation}}). This causes the pollen of the flower to stick to the male bee, who may make the same mistake with another flower, allowing for pollination.
-This particular orchid mimicked the solitary bee ''{{w|Eucera}}'', which now only pollinates it in the Mediterranean (the bee isn't really extinct yet). This may eventually lead to the extinction of the orchid due to lack of reproduction. In most areas where it grows, the orchid is using a method of {{w|self-pollination}}, which can be detrimental to the genetic vitality of the species as it is a form of in-breeding.
+This particular orchid mimicked the solitary bee ''{{w|Eucera}}'', which now only pollinates it in the Mediterranean (the bee isn't really extinct, yet). This may eventually lead to the extinction of the orchid due to lack of reproduction. In most areas where it grows, the orchid is using a method of {{w|self-pollination}}, which can be detrimental to the genetic vitality of the species as it is a form of in-breeding.
 Photographs of ''{{w|Ophrys apifera}}'':

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 :Beret Guy: Wow, so...
-:[We see a full-colour painting of an orchid flower. It has purple-pink petals on a mottled grey background, along with the bee-like parts. It's quite a realistic painting.]
+:[We see a full-color painting of an orchid flower. It has purple-pink petals on a mottled grey background, along with the bee-like parts. It's quite a realistic painting.]
 :...the only memory of the bee is a painting by a dying flower.