Triphora trianthophora and pollinator

[prem]

Photographed in Citrus County, FL. T. trianthophora is a very small orchid which is hard to find, period, because of its small size. It's even harder to catch in flower, owing to the fact that all plants in a colony will flower at the same time, with the flowers lasting but a day. A new wave of buds will mature within a few weeks, to bloom again on the one designated day.

Here's an entire plant shot...the imaged plant is around 3 inches tall:



Here's a close-up of the flower, which is roughly 1 cm across:



Here's another flower close-up:



And, while I was shooting this, a small Stylogaster biannulata fly landed on the flower in search of nectar:



Finally, here's a crop of just the center of the above image at full resolution:



Enjoy!
---Prem
Florida's Native and Naturalized Orchids