Something Is Rotten in ...

• The intent of carrion flowers is not to attract moths, bees and butterflies, which are drawn to non-carrion flowers by their fragrance; instead, carrion flowers are meant to attract flies--including flesh flies, midges and blowflies, as well as carrion midges--thus the need to emit an odor comparable to rotting flesh, which is the stench that these flies like. The flies' diet consists of stinky things. These offensive-smelling flowers are typically flesh-colored, and their petals are generally covered with a hair-like substance.
  
  

Sneaky, Stinky Creatures

• Because carrion insects eat decaying organic matter, including feces and rotting flesh, when they pollinate the carrion flower the flower starts to stink. The carrion flowers purposely entice certain bugs so that they can be pollinated, but they do not offer a reward to these bugs for their service. Unlike insect-pollinated non-carrion flowers, the carrion does not grant its pollinators with nectar, according to Waynesword.palomar.edu. Once the eggs are laid on the carrion flower, maggots, for example, will die because of lack of nourishment (nectar).
  
  

What Is Responsible for That Foul Odor?

• Scientists believe that the putrid smell is created, at least to a certain degree, by amine compounds (putrescine and cadaverine), which are derived from the amino acids lvsine and ornithine. These amines stink and are produced when proteins rot and decompose.
  
  

It's All in the Nose of the Beholder

• While humans may think carrion flowers smell atrociously, blowflies apparently think otherwise. The female blowfly appears to get aroused and is prompted to lay her eggs when she gets a whiff of this stench, whether it's a carrion flower or a rotting carcass (think road kill), which can be detected from miles away.
  
  

The Lure

• Some carrion flowers actually entice the insect into dark openings where the insects become trapped in the floral organs. The Dutchman's Pipe, named such because it resembles a pipe, is one of the leading carrion insect-trappers. The reason the flower does this is to ensure cross pollination, according to Waynesword.palomar.edu. Sometimes the female flower is no longer receptive to the male pollination attempt, so the trapped bug ups the ante and assures the female flower that she has been pollinated. When the kidnapped insects are finally allowed to leave, they are given a dusting of fresh pollen by the flower, which the insect carries to another plant and the stench follows.