Original paper
Orchid pollinaria (Orchidaceae) attached to stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Dominican amber
Poinar, George
Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen Band 279 Heft 3 (2016), p. 287 - 293
published: Mar 1, 2016
ArtNo. ESP155027903004, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
Orchid pollinaria attached to two stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Dominican amber are characterized. A pollinarium attached to the eye of a worker Proplebeia dominicana Wille & Chandler is described as Rudiculites dominicana gen. n., sp. n. and tentatively assigned to the Tribe Cranichideae of the Subfamily Orchidoideae. Another pollinarium attached to the mouthparts of a worker P. dominicana is described as Globosites apicola gen. n., sp. n. and tentatively assigned to the Tribe Cymbidieae of the Subfamily Epidendroideae. These new records show that diverse orchid lineages were being pollinated by stingless bees in the Tertiary Dominican amber forest.
Keywords
apidae • pollinaria • proplebeia • orchids • insect pollinators • hispaniola