Saturday 5 October 2013

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera)

Like many species of the genus O. apifera is very variable and individuals from different locations can look quite different. Several species of the genus Ophrys are attracting male insects, mostly bees that regard them as females and try to mate with the flower. However,

O. apifera is said to be self-pollinating in central Europe. Despite that fact the pattern on the central labellum (lip) does reflect visible and ultraviolet light. The sepals on the other hand are bright pink in visible light but pretty UV-dark.

Flowers were photographed near Bensheim, Germany  1 July 2013.

All images were taken with a broadband-modified Panasonic Lumix G1 and the EL-Nikkor 80mm/f5.6 at f8.


Visible light image with Baader UV/IR cut filter, ISO 200
image reference: CHA_P1090647_130701


UV-image, Baader U-filter 2”, ISO 400, UV-flash & sunlight. The image suffers from some motion blur but should be fine for documentary purposes.

image reference: CHA_P1090661_130701
 

1 comment:

  1. I like the pictures and it looks like that the photographer is an experienced one. Thanks for sharing the photos and sharing the camera adjustments for the perfect picture.

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