''Ophrys insectifera'', the fly orchid, is a species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

and 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 ...

of the genus ''

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 ...

''. It is remarkable as an example of the use of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, as well as a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship.

Description

''Ophrys insectifera'' is a tuberous perennial, reaching in height, which flowers across its range from May to July.BSBI Species Account - Ophrys insectifera
/ref> It is a slender plant, with narrow upright leaves. A flower spike may carry 1–10 flowers, which have yellow-green sepals, very reduced, dark brown/black petals resembling the antennae of an insect and a long, narrow, lobed labellum, which is dark in color, varying from maroon to black and on which there are two glossy depressions known as 'pseudo-eyes' as well as an iridescent blue/grey patch evolved to resemble an insect's glistening wings. There is a rare yellow-flowered form of ''O. insectifera''.First Nature - Ophrys insectifera
/ref> Chromosomes 2n=36

Taxonomy

The genus name "''Ophrys''" derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

word "ophrys", meaning eyebrow, while the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

epithet "insectifera" means insect-bearing or insect-carrying, referring to the unusual appearance of the flowers.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, growing further north than most other species in the genus ''

'', in Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic states, and as far south as Greece and Spain. In the UK it is a rare species, with a southern distribution. The plant favours sites with damp,

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...

, unimproved soil. It can be found growing in

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

woodlands, on forest edges, in scrub, on limestone pavement, limestone

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

, in chalk pits and

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

s, on cliffs as well as on disused railways.

Ecology

The name arises because its

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

resembles a fly, although it relies on

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

for pollination. In the UK ''O. insectifera'' is pollinated by just two species of digger wasp: '' Argogorytes mystaceus'' and ''Argogorytes fargeii''. The orchid uses scent to attract male wasps which pollinate the flowers as they attempt to mate with them. The

scent An odor (American English) or odour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized ...

released by the flowers

mimic In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...

female sexual

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. Both of the wasp species which pollinate fly orchids in the UK feed on

Umbellifer Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering ...

flowers as adults and on

froghopper The superfamily Cercopoidea, some members of which are called froghoppers and still others known as spittlebugs, are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, ...

nymphs as larvae. ''A. mystaceus'' reproduces in woodland glades, while ''A. fargeii'' reproduces in open, sparsely-vegetated habitats. Like most orchids, ''Ophrys insectifera'' depends upon a relationship with a

mycorrhizal fungus A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae pla ...

in the soil around its roots. In experiments it has been found to grow in association with fungi in the

Tulasnellaceae The Tulasnellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. The family comprises mainly effused (patch-forming) fungi formerly referred to the " jelly fungi" or heterobasidiomycetes. Species are wood- or litter-rotting saprotrophs, b ...

family. Due to the importance of this mycorrhizal partnership,

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

are particularly vulnerable to

fungicide Fungicides are pesticides used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in losses of yield and quality. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals, ...

, but also other chemicals which could impact the growth of soil fungi or cause different fungi/bacteria species to dominate the soil they grow in.

Conservation

Worldwide, this species is considered 'least concern', however in Great Britain its conservation status is 'vulnerable'.Plant Life - Fly Orchid
/ref> This species is mainly threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, which takes several forms: drainage of fens, coniferization of woodland and decline in coppicing of woodland. As it has a very specialized relationship with its pollinators it is also theorized to be particularly vulnerable to climate-change. Image:Ophrys insectifera - Niitvälja2-crop.jpg, A close-up of the flower, clearly showing the iridescent pseudo-wings, pseudoa-ntennae, and pseudo-eyes Image:Ophrys insectifera infructescence - Niitvälja bog.jpg, Infructescence Image:Ophrys insectifera habit.jpg, Habit of an individual of ''Ophrys insectifera'' at the Altendorfer Berg in

Niedersachsen Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Germany Image:Ophrys_insectifera_Saarland_05.jpg, an unusual colour variation, photographed in

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

, Germany

References

External links

*
Den virtuella floran - DistributionJ. Claessens, J. Kleynen: ''European orchids'' - ''Argogorytes mystaceus'' pollinator of ''Ophrys insectifera''
{{Authority control insectifera Orchids of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus