''Chiloglottis'', commonly known as wasp orchids, ant orchids or bird orchids, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 25 species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the orchid family,

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

and is found in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Wasp orchids are

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

which grow in colonies of genetically identical plants. They usually have two leaves at the base of the plant and a single resupinate ("upside-down") flower. The labellum is more or less diamond-shaped and has calli resembling the body of a wingless female wasp.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Chiloglottis'' was first formally described in 1810 by

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

. Brown described '' Chiloglottis diphylla'' at the same time, making it the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. David Jones has transferred some species, especially those commonly known as "bird orchids" (''Simpliglottis'') and "ant orchids" (''Myrmechila'') to other

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, but the change has not been widely accepted.

Distribution

This genus of orchids is

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

and

(including

Chatham Island Chatham Island ( ) ( Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) is the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is said to be "halfway between the equator and the pole, a ...

and the

Antipodes Islands The Antipodes Islands (, ) are inhospitable and uninhabited volcanic islands in subantarctic waters to the south of – and territorially part of – New Zealand. The archipelago lies to the southeast of Stewart Island / Rakiura, and to the ...

).Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
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Ecology

The flowers of wasp, ant and bird orchids are pollinated by sexual deception (

pseudocopulation Pseudocopulation is a behavior similar to Copulation (zoology), copulation that serves a reproductive function for one or both participants but does not involve actual sexual union between the individuals. It is most generally applied to a pollin ...

) of thynnine

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s, except for '' C. cornuta'' which is

self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen arrives at the Stigma (botany), stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms) of the same plant. The term cross-pollination is used for the opposite case, where ...

. A key feature is that each species of orchid is pollinated by a different species of wasp. Male wasps are attracted by wind-borne

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

s released by glands on the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s of the flowers. They usually land on the labellum, on another part of the plant or nearby and then walk or fly to the labellum. They crawl over the labellum, searching for the female wasp. They then attempt to lift and fly away with the dummy female but this action brings them into contact with the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

. If the insect has

pollinia A pollinium (: 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 milkwee ...

from another orchid on its back, the contained

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

will attach to the sticky stigma. Alternatively, if there are no pollinia on its back, the insect may move backward, receive a coat of glue from the flower's

rostellum The rostellum is a projecting part of the column in Orchidaceae flowers, and separates the male androecium from the female gynoecium, commonly preventing self-fertilisation. In many orchids, such as '' Orchis mascula'', the pollinia or pollen m ...

, then push open the

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

and removing any pollinia present, which adhere to the insect's

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

List of species

The following is a list of ''Chiloglottis'' species accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

as at July 2024: *'' Chiloglottis anaticeps'' D.L.Jones (1991) - duck's-head wasp orchid, bird orchid (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis bifaria'' D.L.Jones (2018) (N.S.W.) *''

Chiloglottis chlorantha ''Chiloglottis chlorantha'', commonly known as the Wollongong bird orchid, is a species of orchid Endemism, endemic to a small part of New South Wales. It has two broad leaves and a single green to yellowish green flower with about twelve reddis ...

'' D.L.Jones (1991) - Wollongong bird orchid (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis cornuta'' Hook.f. (1844) - green bird orchid (N.S.W., Vic., S.A., Tas., N.Z.) *'' Chiloglottis curviclavia'' D.L.Jones (2018) (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis diphylla'' R.Br. (1810) - common wasp orchid (N.S.W., Qld.) *''

Chiloglottis formicifera ''Chiloglottis formicifera'', commonly known as the common ant orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to New South Wales. It has two broad leaves and a single narrow, greenish or reddish flower with a black, ant-like callus covering most of the ...

'' Fitzg. (1877) - common ant orchid (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis grammata'' G.W.Carr (1991) - small bird orchid (Tas.) *'' Chiloglottis gunnii'' Lindl. (1840) - tall bird orchid (Tas.) *'' Chiloglottis jeanesii'' D.L.Jones (1997) - mountain bird orchid (Vic.) *'' Chiloglottis longiclavata'' D.L.Jones (1991) - northern wasp orchid (Qld.) *'' Chiloglottis palachila'' D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. (1991) - spade-lipped wasp orchid (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis × pescottiana'' R.S.Rogers (1918) - bronze bird orchid (N.S.W., Vic.) *''

Chiloglottis platyptera ''Chiloglottis platyptera'', commonly known as the winged ant orchid or Barrington Tops ant orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the New England Tableland of New South Wales. It has two broad leaves and a single greenish brown flower with a ...

'' D.L.Jones (1991) - winged ant orchid, Barrington Tops ant orchid (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis pluricallata'' D.L.Jones (1991) - clustered bird orchid (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis reflexa'' (Labill.) Druce (1917) - short-clubbed wasp orchid (N.S.W., Vic.) *'' Chiloglottis seminuda'' D.L.Jones (1991) - turtle orchid (N.S.W., Vic.) *'' Chiloglottis sphaerula'' D.L.Jones (2006) (N.S.W.) *'' Chiloglottis sphyrnoides'' D.L.Jones (1991) - forest wasp orchid (N.S.W., Qld.) *'' Chiloglottis sylvestris'' D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. (1987) - small wasp orchid (N.S.W., Qld.) *'' Chiloglottis trapeziformis'' Fitzg. (1877) - broad-lip bird orchid, diamond ant orchid, dainty bird-orchid (N.S.W., Qld., Vic., S.A., Tas.) *'' Chiloglottis triceratops'' D.L.Jones (1998) - three-horned bird orchid (Tas.) *'' Chiloglottis trilabra'' Fitzg. (1883) - long-clubbed wasp orchid (N.S.W., Vic.) *'' Chiloglottis trullata'' D.L.Jones (1991) - triangular orchid (Qld.) *'' Chiloglottis truncata'' D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. (1987) - small ant orchid (Qld.) *''

Chiloglottis turfosa ''Chiloglottis turfosa'', commonly known as the bog bird orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It has two dark green leaves and a single greenish to reddish brown flower with a sh ...

'' D.L.Jones, (1991) - bog bird orchid (N.S.W., A.C.T.) *'' Chiloglottis valida'' D.L.Jones, (1991) - large bird orchid, common bird orchid (N.S.W., A.C.T.)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Diurideae genera Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)