''Dasyscolia ciliata'' is a species of

scoliid wasp The Scoliidae, the scoliid wasps, are a family of about 560 species found worldwide. They tend to be black, often marked with yellow or orange, and their wing tips are distinctively corrugated. Males are more slender and elongated than females, wi ...

found throughout the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Dasycolia''. It is the only known pollinator of the European ''

Ophrys speculum ''Ophrys speculum'', the mirror orchid, is a species of ''Ophrys'' distributed throughout the Mediterranean that is pollinated exclusively by a single species of scoliid wasp. Description A terrestrial orchid up to 25 cm tall and each infl ...

''. The male wasp is tricked into pollinating the ''

Ophrys The genus ''Ophrys'' is a large group of orchids from the alliance Orchis in the subtribe Orchidinae. They are widespread across much of Europe, North Africa, Caucasus, the Canary Islands, and the Middle East as far east as Turkmenistan. These p ...

'' orchid (via

pseudocopulation Pseudocopulation describes behaviors similar to copulation that serve a reproductive function for one or both participants but do not involve actual sexual union between the individuals. It is most generally applied to a pollinator attempting to co ...

) by mimicking the female wasp in appearance and scent.

References

External links

*
Dasyscolia ciliata
– Encyclopedia of Life Scoliidae Orchid pollinators Insects described in 1787 Monotypic Hymenoptera genera {{Apocrita-stub