Small Snake Orchid at Mount Clear, ACT
Identification history
| Diuris subalpina | 17 Oct 2021 | MattM | ||
| Diuris subalpina | 17 Oct 2021 | NedJohnston |
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User's notes
The insect was seen entering the column on this plant before flying to an adjacent one. I can submit the pollinator as a seperate sighting if the photos are good enough (I didn’t get too close so as to not scare it away)
7 comments
MichaelMulvaney
wrote:
18 Oct 2021
Thanks Ned - good thinking re pollinator if you haven't already can you please submit the pollinator record, the vein pattern on the flies wing is a key feature for ID - so we may or may not be able to ID but worth the try.
MichaelMulvaney
wrote:
18 Oct 2021
Thanks Ned - good thinking re pollinator if you haven't already can you please submit the pollinator record, the vein pattern on the flies wing is a key feature for ID - so we may or may not be able to ID but worth the try.
DerekC
wrote:
18 Oct 2021
I have two comments while these flies visit these D. subalpina I would not assume they are the actual pollinator and there is no evidence of pollina attached to any, I have seen these before but never any evidence of pollination.
More importantly once you record the insect on an orchid the orchid looses its special restricted status as a rare plant and the location is then public unless the recorder selects to hid the location as it is no longer automatic.
More importantly once you record the insect on an orchid the orchid looses its special restricted status as a rare plant and the location is then public unless the recorder selects to hid the location as it is no longer automatic.
NedJohnston
wrote:
18 Oct 2021
Hi @DerekC
The fly did crawl quite far into the orchid but yes there is no evidence of actual pollination. I'm just curious, what species are confirmed pollinators of D. subalpina? I did suppress the location of the sighting for the insect when I submitted it.
Thanks,
Ned Johnston
The fly did crawl quite far into the orchid but yes there is no evidence of actual pollination. I'm just curious, what species are confirmed pollinators of D. subalpina? I did suppress the location of the sighting for the insect when I submitted it.
Thanks,
Ned Johnston
DerekC
wrote:
18 Oct 2021
The answer is the true pollinator/s are not confirmed at this stage to my understanding. Native bees are believed to be responsible but not confirmed, Diuris orchids generally provide no nectar and the long mouthparts of flies such as hoverflies make them unlikely to push into the flower sufficient to remove pollinia. In orchids the pollen is packaged into pollinia which stick to the insect and are usually easily seen attached to the head or thorax etc. of the insect. Please keep looking and photographing as the answer is out there we just need to find it. Diuris are considered to be a "food deception" species growing near nectar producing plants such as native pea species and relying on insect visits by mistaken insects, native bees.
MichaelMulvaney
wrote:
18 Oct 2021
Thanks Derek- is there any chance that a bit of pollen could be transported by teh fly or is all pollen contained within the pollen package with no leakage?
MattM
wrote:
19 Oct 2021
My understanding is that the pollen is all contained in the pollinia as a single unit.
Location information
- Maps Namadgi National Park
- Places Mount Clear, ACT
Sighting information
- 3 Abundance
- 17 Oct 2021 03:40 PM Recorded on
- NedJohnston Recorded by
-
Collections
Plants Orchids NedJohnston
Additional information
- 10cm to 30cm Plant height
- True In flower
Species information
- Diuris subalpina Scientific name
- Small Snake Orchid Common name
- Sensitive
- Rare or uncommon native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Machine learning
-
In flower
- External link More information
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
