Yellow 'Bee' Orchid

The second most frequently encountered Ophrys in Andalucia this year. Ophrys are all pollinated by sexually deceiving inexperienced male bees wasps (and sometimes beetles). The flowers mimic the insects appearance - in this case the silver flash of folded wings on a brown furry background - and emit a scent which is almost identical to a female wasp or bee. The slight difference in scent has actually been proven to make them more attractive than a real female (!) as a cause of the lure of the exotic, strengthening the gene pool through outbreeding.

The shrub is Rosmary - Rosmarinus officinalis