Got educated more about Bee orchids ..Thanks Pankaj :) On Thursday, October 10, 2013 5:27:03 PM UTC+5:30, Dr Pankaj Kumar wrote: > > Ophrys L. > > The genus Ophrys is a large group of orchids from the alliance Orchis > in the subtribe Orchidinae. These plants are remarkable in that they > successfully reproduce through pseudocopulation, that is, their > flowers mimic female insects to such a degree that amorous males are > fooled into mating with the flowers, thereby pollinating them. There > are many natural hybrids. The type species is Ophrys insectifera > L.1753 > They are referred to as the "Bee orchids" due to the flowers of some > species resemblance to the furry bodies of bees and other insects. > Their scientific name Ophrys is the Greek word for "eyebrow", > referring to the furry edges of the lips of several species. > Ophrys was first mentioned in the book "Natural History" by Pliny the > Elder (23-79 AD). > > Biology > > They are terrestrial or ground orchids from central to South Europe, > North Africa, Asia Minor, up to the Caucasus Mountains, but mostly in > the Mediterranean region. They have been said to be the most important > group of European terrestrial orchids. > During summer, all Ophrys orchids are dormant as underground bulbous > tubers, which serve as a food reserve. In late summer/autumn they > develop a rosette of leaves. Also a new tuber starts to grow and > matures until the following spring; the old tuber slowly dies. The > next spring the flowering stem starts to grow. During flowering the > leaves have already started to wither. > Most Ophrys orchids are dependent on symbiotic fungi. Transplanting > specimens, especially wild specimens, is difficult, sometimes > impossible, due to this symbiosis unless a large amount of surrounding > earth is also taken with the plant. All orchids are protected under > CITES II and should not be removed or disturbed in habitat. > The shiny, basal leaves have a green or bluish color. Two to twelve > flowers grow on an erect stem with basal leaves. These species are > successfully cultivated by specialist growers of terrestrial orchids > and are reported to be difficult to grow, being sensitive to rotting > and damping off diseases if not properly subjected to a cool and dry > aestivation period over the summer months with no water. > > Pollination > > Orchids of the genus Ophrys use sexual deception to attract > pollinators to their flowers. In sexual deception, an orchid attracts > male pollinators by producing the sex pheromone of virgin female > pollinators in addition to providing visual and tactile cues (Schiestl > 2005; Schluter et al. 2009; Stokl et al. 2009). These signals > stimulate mating behavior in the male pollinators, which then attempt > copulation, called “pseudocopulation”, with the orchid labellum > (Schluter et al. 2009). During pseudocopulation, pollen from the > flower’s column becomes attached to some part of the pollinator, > usually the head or abdomen, and the pollinator inadvertently carries > and transfers this pollen to other flowers when they are once again > enticed into pseudocopulation. While the morphological cues such as > the shape and texture of the labellum play a role especially at close > range in inducing the pollinator mating behavior, the orchid’s > pheromone mimic, or allomone, has been shown to play the most > important role in enticing pollinators to the flower (Schiestl 2005; > Schluter et al. 2009). > The allomone produced by an orchid is specific to its pollinator, of > which it usually only has one (Ayasse et al. 2007; Gogler et al. 2009, > Schluter et al. 2009) . The allomone is a mixture of alkenes and > alkanes (Schiestl and Cozzolino 2008). There are one or more active > species in this mixture that account for the attraction of pollinators > (Vereeken and Schiestl 2008). Pollinators and orchids use the same > chemical compounds in the same absolute amounts in their pheromones > and allomones, respectively (Schiestl 2008). > Every Ophrys orchid has its own pollinator insect and is completely > dependent on this species for its survival. Duped males are less > likely to return and may ignore other plants of the same species. Only > about 10% of an Ophrys population gets pollinated. This is enough to > preserve the population, since each Ophrys orchid produces about > 12,000 minute seeds. > > Species > > The number of species recognized within the genus varies very widely > between authorities. Flora Europaea in 1980 and Pedersen & Faurholdt > in 2007 listed about 20 species in Europe as a whole; Buttler in 1991 > increased this to 53 for slightly larger geographical area; Delforge > in 1995 gave a total of 130 species. By contrast, a molecular > phylogenetic study in 2008 suggested that there were around 10 > distinguishable groups. As of March 2012, the World Checklist of > Selected Plant Families recognizes 34 species of Ophrys worldwide, > along with their subspecies. > > SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA > > -- > *********************************************************** > Pankaj Kumar, Ph.D. > IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group Asia > > Office: > Conservation Officer > Orchid Conservation Section > Flora Conservation Department > Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation > Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > Residence: > 151, 1st Floor, Tai Om Tsuen > Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. > > email: [email protected] <javascript:>; [email protected] <javascript:> > Phone: +852 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:00pm); +852 9436 6251 > (mobile). Fax: +852 2483 7194 >
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