Green Orchid Bee (Euglossa dilemma)
Green Orchid Bee (Euglossa dilemma) in flight photographed at the Naples Botanical Gardens in Naples, FL. It is not native to Florida, but introduced from Mexico. Orchids are big business in Southern Florida with growers in cities such as Miami, Homestead, Naples, Marco Island, and Ft. Myers to name a few.
The orchid bees are all members of the family Apidae, and the tribe Euglossini, represented by five genera. Most are about the size of a honey bee, but are brightly colored with an iridescent metallic sheen. Typically, each species of orchid bee has a complex mutualistic relationship with a corresponding orchid in their native range. Orchids will produce scents that attract males of a particular species of bee that is the right size and shape to pollinate them. This relationship is not always chemical; some species of orchid go so far as to produce flowers that physically mimic a female bee as an attractant. Orchids will then affix a pollinarium to the bee which is carried to another orchid of the same species. All orchid bees are native to the New World tropics, from Mexico throughout Central and tropical South America. Specimens of one species of this group, Euglossa dilemma, commonly known as the green orchid bee, were collected in Broward County, Florida in 2003 by entomologists working with the USDA fruit fly monitoring program. This arrival was likely from a nest imported from Mexico concealed within a wooden structure such as a pallet. Originally considered to be Euglossa viridissima; Eltz et al. (2011) found the orchid bees in Florida to be Euglossa dilemma, a newly described cryptic sibling species of Euglossa viridissima.
Green Orchid Bee (Euglossa dilemma)
Green Orchid Bee (Euglossa dilemma) in flight photographed at the Naples Botanical Gardens in Naples, FL. It is not native to Florida, but introduced from Mexico. Orchids are big business in Southern Florida with growers in cities such as Miami, Homestead, Naples, Marco Island, and Ft. Myers to name a few.
The orchid bees are all members of the family Apidae, and the tribe Euglossini, represented by five genera. Most are about the size of a honey bee, but are brightly colored with an iridescent metallic sheen. Typically, each species of orchid bee has a complex mutualistic relationship with a corresponding orchid in their native range. Orchids will produce scents that attract males of a particular species of bee that is the right size and shape to pollinate them. This relationship is not always chemical; some species of orchid go so far as to produce flowers that physically mimic a female bee as an attractant. Orchids will then affix a pollinarium to the bee which is carried to another orchid of the same species. All orchid bees are native to the New World tropics, from Mexico throughout Central and tropical South America. Specimens of one species of this group, Euglossa dilemma, commonly known as the green orchid bee, were collected in Broward County, Florida in 2003 by entomologists working with the USDA fruit fly monitoring program. This arrival was likely from a nest imported from Mexico concealed within a wooden structure such as a pallet. Originally considered to be Euglossa viridissima; Eltz et al. (2011) found the orchid bees in Florida to be Euglossa dilemma, a newly described cryptic sibling species of Euglossa viridissima.