Where's an Entimologist when you need one!

[Rick]

I was moving things around to work in the GH and hung the Bulbo blumei outside on a tree. When I came back I noticed some odd movement of the lip, and eventually this little skittering fly came out. It went back in a couple more times, and one time the lip tipped way forward, and when it came out it had pollen stuck on it! It ran around on the leaves for a while (too fast to photograph), more like an ant on speed than a fly, made a couple short hopping flights, and then visited a second flower with the pollen still stuck on it. I never saw it leave the second flower, so I don't know if it delivered the pollen. But it definitely is able to make the lip structure work on this bulbo. This fly is tiny (about the size of a pin head), and actually kind of shiny. I know the picture is not good quality, but anybody have a clue as to the genus this critter might be?




Pic of the flower with the lip tipped forward

 

[paphioboy]

Can't say I can see the insect, Rick... What a gorgeous purple blumei you have...

 

[Rick]

Can't say I can see the insect, Rick... What a gorgeous purple blumei you have...

In the top blown-up pic and the thumbnail (click on it to enlarge) the bug is at the top of the lip right in the groove in the middle of it.

I did some googleing and think it might be some type of scavenger fly?

 

[rdlsreno]

Well atleast it pollinated the flower! Just imagine trying a toothpick.

Ramon

 

[Rick]

Well atleast it pollinated the flower! Just imagine trying a toothpick.

Ramon

Actually I have pollinated this one by hand. I tried about 20+ times before I took a flower apart under a spotting scope. I found out that the stigmatic surface is actually down a tiny hole at the base of the column (I took some microscope pics of this too). After about 5 more attempts putting the pollen where I knew it had to go with no luck, I cut most of the flower away, and used jewelers glasses to verify the pollination. This one took. I pollinated a few more with less flower destruction, but at the very least I cut off the anther end of the column. These also took, and seeds germinated. I have a few seedlings left, and TM has more of them from this selfing.

I'm not sure if I eventually got past some kind of anti-selfing mechanism by cutting off the anther, or it actually occurs by some action of the pollinator, but this flower is weird.

Ed M has told me that for some hybridizations, he has also been able to get the pollination to take by removing the anther end of a column.

 

[SlipperFan]

It's a beautiful color. Have any of the seedlings flowered yet?

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Lovely flower indeed, but I can't see the fly either!

 

[Rick]

It's a beautiful color. Have any of the seedlings flowered yet?

No they are still pretty small yet.

 

[Rick]

Any one know how to add arrows or otherwise draw on an infranview image ?

I've done more googleing. I think this is some type of phorid fly. They are a very large taxonomic group of flies (very diverse in the tropics) similar to fruit flies but with a pronounced hump back. Size can be 0.5 to 6mm. One notable characteristic is the running behavior I noticed. Depending on the species they range from scavengers, herbivores, ominivores, parasitoids, to full blown predators. Some are known as coffin flies, and can even survive in closed coffins for very long times. Many are ant parasites, and are presently being used for fire ant control. The females lay eggs on fire ants, and the larvae eat the ligaments holding the ants head on until its head falls off. Other phorids are hell on bees.

I've never been able to smell anything from a blumei flower, but the literature says these guys are good at following aerial pheromone trails, or decaying odors emanating from decomposing plant matter or drain pipes. I also can't tell if there is any visual mimic the flower may be encouraging. Given how aggressive some of the larvae seem to be, I wonder if they do end up laying eggs in the flower, and have it eat the anther off.

 

[Rick]

Pollinators view.

I took a flower into work to check out on our spotting scope, and took a few pictures. You can see the hole leading into the column to get to the stigma. The column is pretty much a hollow tube. The two "antennae" at the tip are weird, and the pollenia is missing from the anther in this picture. The lip is removed, but you can see the attachment point in front of the column.



Here's the lip. You can see the groove down the middle of the "roler" that aligns the bug into the hole in the column.

 

[goldenrose]

Lovely flower indeed, but I can't see the fly either!

Do the follow up photos help Tom? Even with glasses on, I'd walk right by that one! :rollhappy::rollhappy:
Interesting though!

 

[Rick]

Do the follow up photos help Tom? Even with glasses on, I'd walk right by that one! :rollhappy::rollhappy:
Interesting though!

I wear bifocals toooke:oke:

 

[Rick]

new stuff

I was inspired by a great article by K H Tan in the newest issue of OD on pollination of some Bulbophyllums by fruit flies. It gave me the idea to try to trap whatever flies that may be interested in the flowers by adding some glue to the flowers. I applied some of the adhesive from mouse sticky traps to 5 of my recent blumei flowers, and trapped a batch of the same type of fly. This time a better pic taken under the microscope cam at work.



It's still not the greatest pic, but from a Wicki ID standpoint I think its a Phoridae. I couldn't get the glue on any lips without tearing them off, but I was pretty amazed that 7 out of 8 or so of the flies captured were all like this, and all hit the flowers within the same few hours in late afternoon.

 

[SlipperKing]

Really interesting Rick. That fly has monstrous back legs! Good for hopping I guess.

 

[NYEric]

It gave me the idea to try to trap whatever flies that may be interested in the flowers by adding some glue to the flowers. I applied some of the adhesive from mouse sticky traps to 5 of my recent blumei flowers, and trapped a batch of the same type of fly.

OMG!! What are you doing to those poor flies!?

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Do the follow up photos help Tom? Even with glasses on, I'd walk right by that one! :rollhappy::rollhappy:
Interesting though!

Nah, my eyesight is so bad I even missed your response until now! Ah, the joys of aging...

Rick, you are funny - catching defenseless, really tiny flies like that! It really is fascinating how orchids have co-evolved with pollinators to create such specific relationships. Neat stuff!

 

[SlipperFan]

Rick, does this help?

 

[Clark]

If you copy and rotate the photo, it has a bit of a sci-fi look to it.
Almost looks like a quadruped.

 

[Rick]

Rick, does this help?

I have a couple of edits like this. The one I posted was an attempt to get the best definition of the wing veins (which are a diagnostic key to fly families). With increased brightness and extra sharpening you get improvement on the legs and thorax like you have.

 

[Rick]

OMG!! What are you doing to those poor flies!?

:evil::evil::evil::evil::evil: