Bucket Orchids: Things to Consider

If you have seen the wonderful pollination process of the bucket orchid, and if you subscribe to the theory of evolution, how do you explain the following? That–

  • a plant somehow evolved a scent that attracted a particular male bee so he could collect it to make himself attractive to a female bee
  • the part of the orchid that contained the attractant would be slippery and would hang directly above the bucket, making it difficult for the bee to stay attached
  • this plant evolved a “slimy” oil which would drip into a specially designed bucket located below the place where the male was collecting the attractant, which would catch the bee when it slipped and fell
  • the oil in the bucket would drown other insects but not the bee associated with this orchid
  • this plant evolved with a tiny step at the edge of the pool of oil to allow the insect to climb out and up to the only exit, through the orchid’s throat.
  • this plant also evolved so that when the bee got to a point in his climb to escape, it would constrict just enough to trap this bee but not kill it
  • as the bee was held in place the orchid would drop a little glue to its back
  • this plant developed a system to deliver two pollen sacks to the back of the insect where the glue had been applied
  • the orchid would hold the bee in place for about 45 minutes to an hour so the glue could dry and then release its grip so the bee could escape
  • the bee would try to remove the two pollen sacs to no avail and then fly off to find another bucket orchid.
  • the process would proceed as before except that, as the bee climbs through the throat of the new orchid, one that needed the pollen sacs, the new orchid would neatly remove the pollen with a hook mechanism in the orchid as the bee squeezed through.

You also have to accept that:

  • an insect evolved that was attracted to the scent produced by this plant
  • this insect is just the right weight to first climb onto the slippery surface above the pool but not initially slip off
  • this insect was big enough to fall into the bucket and not drown, but small enough not to tear through the plant
  • this insect is small enough to fit through a tube (the throat of the orchid) but not so small that it can get through the tube when the orchid contracts
  • this insect was strong enough to carry two pollen sacs
  • this insect could not dislodge the pollen sacs on his own
  • This insect, after carrying the two pollen sacs, would go to another orchid, go through the same routine of falling in and trying to climb out but this time being so designed that the attached pollen sac could be removed by a mechanism in the orchid that needed the pollen.

Please explain how this process occurred through random selection, how it took into account the evolutionary process of another organism of a different species, and how its development occurred simultaneously with the orchid. “Time” is not a good enough crutch to hold up the evolutionist’s argument.

Edited December 4, 2006 by IamsSon and modified by Vic in Alabama, 2023