Triphora trianthophora and pollinator

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

That's small....but obviously irresistible to that little fly. Very pretty, thanks for sharing!
Connie

I'm glad you caught it in bloom. Fascinating info and lovely pictures. Thank you for sharing.

Good bust! I have been looking for it for years here in Ohio. I figure I will trip and fall one day and it will be right there!