Pollination strategies of European orchids
Orchids display a wide variety of strategies for attracting insects that can act as pollen vector. During evolution the morphology of the orchid flower was adapted in various ways in order to match the preferences of the visiting insects. This resulted in different pollination strategies, from reward to deception and from allogamous to autogamous pollination.
In this lecture the morphology of the orchid flower is discussed, followed by many examples showing the various relationships between orchid and pollinator. This is demonstrated with unique, unseen macro photographs as well as videos showing the behaviour of the pollinators.