The flowers of Lepanthes dewildei
Lepanthes dewildei is one of about eight hundred species in the Lepanthes, most of which science knows very little about. An article in Biota Colombia lists 270 species of Lepanthes that occur in Colombia. As far as I can tell, Lepanthes dewildei is endemic to the Chocó and Valle del Chauca Departments (Provinces) of Colombia. This species was named in honour of its discoverer, Arend de Wilde.
Lepanthes dewildei (PDF) is a small, twig-epiphyte with very narrowly ovate, purplish leaves. The several-flowered racemes are 3-4mm long, and are composed of translucent-tan sepals and bright orange-crimson petals. Today’s photographer, Sebastian, notes that the petals are longer than the sepals, a very unusual characteristic in Lepanthes. No one knows which insect(s) pollinate Lepanthes dewildei, but if I had to make a guess, I would say that whatever insect is involved, it would look (or smell) similar to the inflorescence shown in today’s image.
Although we know nothing of Lepanthes dewildei‘s pollinator, we do know that at least some members of Lepanthes use “pseudocopulation” as a pollination mechanism. That is, the flowers mimic the appearance or sexual pheromones of a certain insect species. They are then pollinated when males of that species attempt to mate with the flower. For example, the Costa Rican Lepanthes glicensteinii is pollinated by male Bradysia floribunda flies, who must “go all the way” with the inflorescence in the most extreme type of sexual deception, genitalic pseudocopulation. Another of Sebastian Moreno’s photos shows a fly caught in the act of trying to mate with a Lepanthes amplisepala flower. None of the Lepanthes offer a significant pollinator reward, and so it seems likely that pseudocopulation is very common in this genus.
To me this looks like a slug or snail, but it seems unlikely that would prove helpful to the plant!
Anyway, Lepanthes is a wonderful genus, and there are 3-4 folks on Flickr who have truly spectacular collections of Lepanthes images. Try searching the entire Flickr site for “Lepanthes”, and you will see what I’m talking about!
Incredibly lepanthes have a structure inside the flower analogous to the female genitalia of certain fungus gnats. which generally are the pollinators. It is a type of pseudocopulation…this has been documented by several pollination biologists. The Gnats approach the flowers ( which incidentally look nothing like fungus gnats, engage with the internal parts, leave a spermatophore behind and presumably leave happier than they arrived! there are pictures of this if you’d like to see them.
Thank You Tamara for making me laugh so hard. Nature is awesome !
Hail! Very beautifully taken photos. I’m always awed by amazing diverse forms, functions and features of God’s creation. Glorious. Inexplicable.
During a quick read I didn’t see any mention of this being an orchid.
The processes of evolution seem to me to be sufficient enough to explain the diverse forms, functions and features exhibited in nature.