A day trip photo essay

22nd October, 2020
Nadgee Nature Reserve

OK, let’s get the orchids out of the way first …

But we were hunting more than just orchids …

A range of flowering plants

Anything that moves

Bees and orchids

At first I thought this unfortunate bee sitting on a Patersonia flower had something caught in her eye. She was certainly bothered by it, trying every contortion possible to dislodge it.

Only after I’d thought about it more … and read up a little on orchid anatomy … did I realise that the offending article was probably the pollinia from a nearby sun orchid. Bees are the main pollinators of Thelymitra ixiodes. They are fooled into visiting the flowers in the hope of a meal of pollen or perhaps nectar … but the orchids offer neither. Instead, the orchid anther has a very sticky stalk – and it can stick tightly to smooth surfaces such as insect eyes. Nasty!

The sun orchids deceive native bees by resembling other, more productive flowers. Indeed, the purple Patersonia flowers (‘Purple Flags’) were everywhere – and they do look very much like the sun orchids. Tricksy!!

A little later I spotted a small bee on Thelymitra ixioides. She was working hard to get a meal from the sun orchid, all to no avail. The pollen she carried was collected elsewhere … perhaps even from Patersonia! This bee had avoided being burdened with the orchid pollinia. So far.

River stopover

A brief stop at the river for lunch … and the obligatory hunt for insects, plus.