Creature 315: Peristeria elata

Another Orchid

It's about time I had another lazy day, so let's have another orchid. Today it is Peristeria elata.

It is commonly known as the dove orchid, because it sort of looks like a dove.

Distribution:
The dove orchid is native to central America and South America above the equator.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Peristeria
Species: Peristeria elata

Image Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peristeria_elata
https://featuredcreature.com/6-amazing-orchids-that-look-just-like-animals/

Creature 260: Orchis italica

It's an orchid day!

Description:
Orchis italica is usually known as the naked man orchid. I'll let you figure out why:

I'm not sure if we fully understand why the flowers assume this shape. It seems that their main pollinators are bees. The do produce a sweet nectar which is sometimes used by humans to produce a drink.

Distribution:
Naked man Orchid occurs rarely across the Mediterranean.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Orchis
Species: Orchis italica

Image Links:
http://www.danoah.com/are-the-hanging-naked-men-flowers-real
https://angiesgrapevine.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/orchis-italica-naked-man-orchid-italian-orchid/

Creature 193: Pecteilis radiata

Orchid day today.

Pecteilis radiata is an orchid. Commonly called the white egret orchid. Take a look:

It clearly looks like a spectacular white bird taking off. Apparently an egret.

Distribution:
You can find the white egret orchid in East and North Asia.

Classification:
This orchid has many invalid scientific names attached to it.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Pecteilis
Species: Pecteilis radiata

Image Links:

http://icps.proboards.com/thread/3338/pecteilis-radiata

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13241

Creature 165: Ophrys apifera

Another orchid day.

Description:
Today's bizarre creature is Ophrys apifera. Some of my regular readers might recognize the generic name Ophrys, a genus of orchid. That's right today is an orchid day!

Ophrys apifera is commonly known as the bee orchid as it mimics bees. If you don't know what I mean by that check out my other orchid posts here. It emits a smell which mimics female pheromones of the bee genus Eucera.

Despite all the effort it has gone to in order to attract pollinators,  the bee orchid is mostly self pollinating.

Distribution:
The bee orchid can be found in Europe,  North Africa and the middle East.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Ophrys
Species: Ophrys apifera

Image Links:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ophrys_apifera_(flower).jpg

http://iberianature.com/lucyblog/2010/06/

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/399055

Creature 129: Dracula simia

A flower that looks like a monkey's face

Today I don't really feel like writing,  which leaves me two choices.  I can post an Orchid or a Nudibranch, both taxa are so weird looking you will never get sick of seeing new species. They also speak for themselves with their weird appearance so I don't need to write much.

Description:
So this orchid is called Dracula simia the specific epithet simia meaning monkey. Their common name is the monkey's face orchid, and once you have seen it the etymology of it will be obvious:

The main pollinators of these are various butterfly, and if you look at them from the right angle you can kind of see how they might be mimicking a butterfly.

Distribution:
Monkey's face orchid is endemic to the Mediterranean region and Western Europe, but it is widely all over the world as an ornamental plant.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Dracula
Species: Dracula simia

Image Links:
http://www.boredpanda.com/flowers-look-like-animals-people-monkeys-orchids-pareidolia/?image_id=flowers-look-like-animals-people-monkeys-orchids-pareidolia-7.jpg
http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/how-to-grow-monkey-face-orchids-from.html

Creature 90: Caleana major

A flower that looks like a duck

Description:
Just another Orchid today, there will be several of them, but that's only because they are so weird. Caleana major is commonly known as the flying duck Orchid.

It is a similar story to the fly orchid, although it is in a different genus altogether. Like the fly orchids, the flying duck orchids are mimicking female insects in order to attract its pollinators. The males are lured in and before they realize what is going on they are covered in pollen which they then carry to another flower. The shape is supposed to attract species of sawflies, which are a paraphyletic group similar to wasps. To a human the flower looks a bit like an abstract flying duck but apparently to a male sawfly it looks like a female sawfly.

Distribution:
Flying duck orchid is found in dry eucalyptus forest along the East Coast of Australia including Tasmania as well as the south cost up to the Nullarbor plains.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Caleana
Species: Caleana major

Image Links:
http://www.thefeaturedcreature.com/6-amazing-orchids-that-look-just-like-animals/
http://morgana249.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/20-orchids-that-look-like-something.html

Creature 14: Ophrys insectifera

A flower that looks like a wasp (if you're a wasp)

Description:
Ophrys insectifera or the fly orchid is an orchid which is said to resemble a fly:

Actually this flower is going for a more bee-wasp look. It is pollinated by bees and wasps and does everything it can to trick males into thinking it is a female wasp or bee to draw them in. Not only does its flow grow to look like an hymenopteran but it emits a scent which is supposed to mimic the female hymenoptera pheromones which many of that order use to find mates.

You might be thinking: "hang on, that doesn't look much like a wasp to me." Remember that the insect pollinators see the world through radically different eyes and not only is their visible color range different from ours but all other aspect of their sight are different, e.g. depth perception, motion perception etc... In fact the homology between our sight and insect sight is very, very deep, and we should be careful about what we assume with regard to the way they experience the sensation of sight. But that is a discussion for another place.

Distribution:
Ophyrys insectifera is found throughout most of Europe, being most common in central Europe.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperm
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Genus: Ophyrys
Species: insectifera

Image Links:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fly_Orchid_(Ophrys_insectifera)_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1330567.jpg
http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/04/the-fly-orchid-agent-provocateur-of.html
http://www.orpingtonfieldclub.org.uk/ofc-article002.html