Orchidaceae, commonly called the orchid family, is a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Ophrys apifera, known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, as well as of a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship.
Dactylorhiza fuchsii, the common spotted orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae.
A bumblebee is any of over 250 species in the genus Bombus, part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera are known from fossils. They are found primarily in higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America, where a few lowland tropical species have been identified. European bumblebees have also been introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania. Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals.
The genus Ophrys is a large group of orchids from the alliance Orchis in the subtribe Orchidinae. They are widespread across much of Europe, North Africa, Caucasus, the Canary Islands, and the Middle East as far east as Turkmenistan.
Orchis is a genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae), occurring mainly in Europe and Northwest Africa, and ranging as far as Tibet, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. The name is from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of the paired subterranean tuberoids.
A bumblebee is a flying insect of the genus Bombus.
Ophrys insectifera, the fly orchid, is a species of orchid and the type species of the genus Ophrys. It is remarkable as an example of sexually-deceptive pollination and floral mimicry as well as of a highly-selective and highly evolved plant-pollinator relationship.
Ophrys sphegodes, commonly known as the early spider-orchid, is a species of sexually-deceptive orchid native to Europe and the Middle East. It is a very varied species with many subspecies recognised.
Ophrys fuciflora is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family. It is widespread across much of Europe from Britain and Spain to Turkey and Romania, plus Libya and the Middle East as far east as Iraq.
The early bumblebee or early-nesting bumblebee is a small bumblebee with a wide distribution in most of Europe and parts of Asia. It is very commonly found in the UK and emerges to begin its colony cycle as soon as February which is earlier than most other species, hence its common name. There is even some evidence that the early bumblebee may be able to go through two colony cycles in a year. Like other bumblebees, Bombus pratorum lives in colonies with queen and worker castes. Bombus pratorum queens use aggressive behavior rather than pheromones to maintain dominance over the workers!
Bombus vestalis, the vestal cuckoo bumblebee, is a species of cuckoo bumblebee that lives in most of Europe, as well as North Africa and western Asia. It is a brood parasite that takes over the nests of other bee species. Its primary host is Bombus terrestris. After its initial classification as Psithyrus vestalis, this bumblebee recently was reclassified into the genus Bombus, subgenus Psithyrus.
Bombus lucorum, the white-tailed bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee, widespread and common throughout Europe. This name has been widely used for a range of nearly identical-looking or cryptic species of bumblebees. In 1983, Scholl and Obrecht even coined the term Bombus lucorum complex to explain the three taxa that cannot be easily differentiated from one another by their appearances. A recent review of all of these species worldwide has helped to clarify its distribution in Europe and northern Asia, almost to the Pacific. B. lucorum reaches the Barents Sea in the North. However, in southern Europe, although found in Greece it is an upland species with its distribution never quite reaching the Mediterranean.
Ophrys scolopax, known as the woodcock bee-orchid or woodcock orchid, is a species of terrestrial orchid found around the Mediterranean and the Middle East, from Morocco and Portugal to Hungary and Iran.
Eucera is a genus of bees in the family Apidae, subfamily Apinae, and tribe Eucerini – the long-horned bees.
The natural history of the island of Rhodes is determined by its geographic position, climate and geological diversity. Rhodes is in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin close to the coast of Turkey, and the flora and fauna are a mixture of Mediterranean and Asian elements. Rhodes is in the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion.
Ophrys speculum, the mirror orchid, is a species of Ophrys distributed throughout the Mediterranean that is pollinated exclusively by a single species of scoliid wasp.
Ophrys apollonae, the Apollona bee-orchid, is a very early flowering terrestrial species of orchid native to Greece and Turkey. Morphologically similar to Ophrys omegaifera, but usually with a short stem and with one small flowers, with length just above 1 cm. This bee orchid's lip is 11.7 - 13.7 mm long, much smaller than that of Ophrys omegaifera var. basilissa which is also a very early plant. It is proven that it attracts the bumble bee Anthophora nigriceps, a different pollinator than Ophrys omegaifera. Other differentiating characteristics include the way in which it holds its flowers horizontally out from the top of the stem. Its name is a reference to the village of Apollona which nestles in the Southern foothills of the mountain on which it was discovered and studied.
Ophrys caucasica is a flowering plant endemic to the Caucasus. It has been recorded in numerous areas throughout Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Russia.
Ophrys bombyliflora is a species of plants in the family Orchidaceae (orchids). They are listed in CITIES appendix ii.
