bees on orchids?
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by
David_Notton
Has anyone seen any bees visiting orchids? Something to look out for...
I recently saw some bees visiting Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula), I collected a few and on getting them back to the lab found they were the Common Green Furrow bee (Lasioglossum morio).
What were they doing? They weren't pollinators as none were carrying the pollinia, indeed they quite small bees and are barely large enough for this. They were all females, so pseudocopulation is ruled out as happens for some orchids. They have short tongues, so any nectar (if any) would be inaccessible. I can only suppose they were visiting the flowers speculatively, as they are a polylectic which visits many flower types, the flowers must have the basic cues colour/scent/shape to encourage this.
I'll look forward to seeing any other pictures of insects on orchids.
Posted