What insect pollen Phalaenopsis or Vanda in the wild?

[yijiawang]

Indoor, is me
Hello, A friend of mine who research Nothodoritis pollen in pass 3 years in the wild but failure, do not catch any insect in the wild who pollen it.
so he want to know what insect pollen small Phalaenopsis or Vanda, or Doritis，or Ascocentrum, these flower shape is similar to Nothodoritis
Thank you for anyone's help in advanced!

[gnathaniel]

Hi yijiawang, that's a very interesting question!

This is the best I was able to find on Phalaenopsis pollinators online, I hope this link works: Phalaenopsis: a monograph - Google Books If it doesn't, go to Google Books and search 'phalaenopsis pollinator', that's how I found this book excerpt.

Here is another thread on OB in which member cneos discusses pollinators of some Vanda species: Vanda denisoniana. The actual discussion of pollinators starts on the second page. You may want to ask member cneos for more details... Hope this helps, and please let us know what else you find out!

--Nat

[cneos]

Re: pollinator of various types of vanda denisoniana, Eric Christenson suggests that those that are fragrant at dusk are pollinated by beetles, compared to day fragrant pollinated by bees.

I think the flower in the photo is Nothodoritis zhejiangensis ... see Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia . I wonder if this may be pollinated by a moth or maybe even a hummingbird? May depend on time of day that it is fragrant or otherwise attractive to a non-human visitor.

Remeber Charles Darwin predicted that Angraecum sesquipedale was pollinated at night by a moth with a 16" proboscis!

[yijiawang]

Thank you for the help, I will tell my friend immediately!