Bee Orchid and Others

Friends came to see the local orchids in our village this morning and we saw more than I have ever seen before! Birds’ Nest (an earlier blip) Late Spider, Lesser Butterfly and Fly orchids, all quite rare, but the Fly orchid is very rare. All use mimicry to help with pollination. 
Read on if you are interested in the breeding process of the Fly Orchid…. From https://www.plantlife.org.uk/application/files/1415/5378/9208/Fly_Orchid_-_Ophrys_insectifera.pdf
“Although the flowers resemble flies, this is a mimicry for attracting two species of Digger Wasp - Argogorytes mystaceus and A. fargeii. Fly Orchids produce a pheromone similar to the female Digger Wasp attracting males, tricking them into attempting to mate with the plant and picking-up pollen in the process. The wasp, after failing to mate, tries another Fly Orchid flower, thereby pollinating the plants. Male Digger Wasps stop trying to mate with the Fly Orchid once female Digger Wasps emerge a few weeks after the males.” It doesn’t end there, the Fly orchid is so rare and this is the reason why apparently, “The Fly Orchid is highly likely to have a mycorrhizal association for the seed to germinate, but the longevity of that association as well as the species of fungi are unknown. If this is the case, this might be one of the reasons why this species is so rare.” So it had to be the main image today. Extras should be recognisable!

3 yoga lessons to teach tonight, finish packing, leave the bags in the corridor, try to get a good night’s sleep then set off at 07:15 tomorrow for Oslo. So no commenting for 9 days as the boat wifi was very weak last time I did this kind of trip. I hope I can upload.