Spider Orchid, Brassia "Chieftain", Orchidaceae, Oncidiinae, Cymbidieae. South Florida, the West-Indies and tropical South America.
Spider Orchid, Brassia "Chieftain", Orchidaceae, Oncidiinae, Cymbidieae Orchid Brassia species and its popular hybrids are common in cultivation, and are notable for the characteristic long and spreading tepals, which lend them the common name "spider orchid". This epiphytic genus occurs in South Florida, the West-Indies and tropical America, in wet forests from sea level to altitudes under 1500 m, with the Peruvian Andes as its center. Brassia has a very specific method for pollination : it uses entomophily : pollination by insects and in this case specifically by female spider-hunter wasps of the genera Pepsis and Campsomeris. Mistaken by the mimicry of Brassia, the wasp stings the lip, while trying to grasp its prey without any success. By these movements the wasp comes into contact with the pollinarium, that then sticks to its head. By flying to another Brassia flower, this flower gets pollinated.
Size: 3360px × 5205px
Location: South Florida, the West-Indies and tropical South America
Photo credit: © Florapix / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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