Orchid evolution visual abstract (IMAGE)
Caption
The relationship between orchids and their pollinators is often highly exclusive because their physical features closely match each other. On mainland Japan, only a specific bumblebee can pollinate Goodyera henryi’s long flower tube with its long mouthparts (top right). Its close relative Goodyera similis has a short flower tube and is pollinated by a wasp with shorter mouthparts (middle right). On a remote island, where only wasps but no bumblebees exist (map, highlighted in red), both flowers are pollinated by the wasp (bottom right). However, for Goodyera henryi this came at the cost of hybridization with Goodyera similis and thus it lost some of its species identity.
Credit
ANSAI Shun
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Credit must be given to the creator.
License
CC BY