''Ophrys bombyliflora'', the bumblebee orchid, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of ''

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 ...

'' (bee orchid), native from the

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The genus name ' is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

in reference to the hairy lips of the flowers of this genus; the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

' is from the

''bombylios'' (bumblebee) in reference to the appearance of the flowers of this species. ''Ophrys bombyliflora'' is pollinated by males of

solitary bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfami ...

of the genus ''

Eucera ''Eucera'' is a genus of bees in the family Apidae, subfamily Apinae, and tribe Eucerini – the long-horned bees. Description As in most members of the tribe Eucerini, the antennae of males are very long. Old World ''Eucera'' can be identifi ...

'' (which are not

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

s)., p. 349 As with other species of ''Ophrys'', the flowers mimic the females in appearance and scent. Earlier-emerging males attempt to mate with the flowers ("

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 ...

"), collecting

pollinia A pollinium (plural pollinia) is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant that are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of mil ...

in the process which they transfer to other flowers of the same species.

References

External links

* *
Tela Botanica, Ophrys bombyxFirst Nature, ''Ophrys bombyliflora'' - Bumblebee OrchidArkive, Wildscreen, Bumble-bee orchid ''(Ophrys bombyliflora)''Junta de Andalucia, ''Ophrys bombyliflora''Orquídeas Ibéricas, ''Ophrys bombyliflora''
bombyliflora Flora of Europe Flora of North Africa Flora of Western Asia Flora of the Canary Islands Plants described in 1799 {{Orchidoideae-stub