Talk:1259: Bee Orchid

First! The act of telling someone not to jinx something causes the jinx you're trying to prevent. gijobarts (talk) 07:02, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

I had thought all the worker bees were female, and all the male "drones" stayed in the hives. The Wikipedia says that isn't true for all species. gijobarts (talk) 07:15, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia on the reproduction of Ophrys apifera:

It is the only species of the genus Ophrys which preferentially practice self-pollination. The flowers are almost exclusively self-pollinating in the northern ranges of the plant's distribution, but pollination by the solitary bee Eucera occurs in the Mediterranean area. In this case the plant attracts these insects by producing a scent that mimics the scent of the female bee. In addition, the lip acts as a decoy as the male bee confuses it with a female. Pollen transfer occurs during the ensuing pseudocopulation.

Bees in the past have promoted the evolution of bee orchids. Male bees, over many generations of cumulative orchid evolution, have built up the bee-like shape through trying to copulate with flowers, and hence carrying pollen.

gijobarts (talk) 07:36, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

A colony of ophrys apifera was discovered a few months ago.(Spanish). Probably not related.

This page (Vietnamese) has an excellent photo of an ophrys apifera, along with other strange-looking plants. You can see how it looks like bees in that photo. gijobarts (talk) 07:50, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Was there once another bee that pollinated it in more areas, or did the eucera once populate more of the world, or has the flower expanded where the bee has not followed? gijobarts (talk) 08:47, 2 September 2013 (UTC)