Bee Orchid 01 Closer
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Bee Orchid 01 Closer
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera. Closer look.
Ophrys apifera, known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, as well as of a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship.
The bee orchid grows to a height of 6–20 inches. This hardy plant blooms from mid-April in continental Europe and in June to July in the UK. A flower spike is produced, composed from one to twelve flowers.
Three large, purple sepals which can easily be mistaken for petals surround the base of the flower. The true petals lie just above the sepals as two short, pubescent green structures protruding laterally from a central column. A third, modified petal, the labellum, sits at the bottom of the column as a landing pad for pollinators. The labellum is trilobed, with two pronounced humps on the hairy lateral lobes and a hairy median lobe having a pattern that mimics the abdomen of a female bee.
Ophrys apifera is widespread across central and southern Europe, as well as North Africa and the Middle East. Its range stretches from Portugal east to the Caucasus. It is quite common in the Mediterranean region eastwards to the Black Sea, but is less common in its northern range being uncommon or local in Germany and Ireland.
Ophrys apifera self-pollinate in the northern ranges of the plant's distribution. In the Mediterranean region, however, where the bee orchid is more common, pollination is carried out through the solitary bee Eucera longicornis. E. longicornis males attempt to copulate with the flowers, which emit allomones that mimic the scent of the female bee. These allomones are also known to attract bee species Tetralonia cressa and Eucera pulveraceae. In addition to chemosensory mimicry, the labellum of the flower acts as a visual decoy that the male bee confuses for a female. It is believed that male bees preferentially select orchids with the most bee-like labellum and attempt copulation, at which point the pollinia stick to the bee during the pseudocopulation. This achieves pollen transfer and, potentially, pollination.
More amazing flowers and plants one copy-paste away at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/flowers
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
May 25th, 2021
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