The Victorian naturalist . insect that pol-linated the orchiddiscussed has been identified as amale Flower Wasp of the familyThynnidea, and of the Rhagigastergenus. This is essentially an Austra-lian family of wasps, species of whichare frequently seen on hot days visitingtea tree blossom and other nativeflowers. The female wasps are entirelywingless and the male wasp seeks themout. Mating takes place during flight,with the male wasp carrying the fe-male which attaches herself to hisabdomen. When fertilized, the femaledrops to the ground and burrows intothe earth in search of a Scarab beetlegr
The Victorian naturalist . insect that pol-linated the orchiddiscussed has been identified as amale Flower Wasp of the familyThynnidea, and of the Rhagigastergenus. This is essentially an Austra-lian family of wasps, species of whichare frequently seen on hot days visitingtea tree blossom and other nativeflowers. The female wasps are entirelywingless and the male wasp seeks themout. Mating takes place during flight,with the male wasp carrying the fe-male which attaches herself to hisabdomen. When fertilized, the femaledrops to the ground and burrows intothe earth in search of a Scarab beetlegrub on which to lay her eggs. It appears that the pollination pro-cess of the Elbow Orchid by theFlower Wasp is achieved in the fol-lowing sequence. The wasp grasps the insectiformlabellum with its head near the glandsat the top of the labellum. The mo-mentum of the insect landing on thehinged labellum causes the insect tobe swung up towards the column asthough on a pendulum and the thoraxof the wasp is directed between the.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdec, booksubjectnaturalhistory, bookyear1884
