Press Release

Sex Life of Wasps Leads to Discovery of 6 New Orchid Species

22 June 2007

CSIRO; Journal: SB: Australian Systematic Botany, Volume 20. Issue 2, Article ID: SB06033

Six new species of the most biologically bizarre and complex flowering plants have been discovered in South Western Australia. The alluring orchids have evolved to look like female wasps in order to attract the male wasps that act as their pollinators.

The discovery is revealed in a paper published in the Journal of Australian Systematic Botany, Friday 22 June 2007.   Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Professor Stephen Hopper, and Andrew P Brown of the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation have carried out the first modern-day revision of Drakaea Lindley, a genus of ten species known for their physical and chemical adaptations to deceive and attract pollinating wasps.

"It has been a story of sex and drugs in the orchid world," quipped Hopper. "Our experiments in the field have enabled us to plug some gaps in our knowledge about these fascinating plants - and have demonstrated how much we have to do to learn about plant diversity right under our noses."

The six new species of hammer orchids are: D. andrewsiae, D. concolor, D. confluens, D. gracilis, D. isolata and D. micrantha. It was already established that certain orchids are able to emit an airborne chemical that mimics a pheromone from thynnid wasp females, thus attracting the males, who in attempting to mate with the flower parts achieve pollination instead. Hopper and Brown set up baits for the male wasps, and watched closely. The behaviour of the wasps under carefully monitored conditions provided the clue to the previously unobserved differences between the different orchids.

Several of these orchids are threatened with extinction, and, as so little is known about them and the life cycles of their pollinator wasps, important research is currently being conducted by Ryan Phillips, a PhD student at the University of Western Australia.

The discovery draws attention to the fact that so much of our natural environment is yet to be discovered and documented. Even in a temperate region where one might assume that all plant life has been fully documented, there are still an estimated 1,000 plant species left to be described. One third of plant species in these areas have been documented in the last three decades alone. Approximately 2,000 new species are described around the world every year and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew describes about 10% of these. Documenting new discoveries is as important as conserving known endangered species as without knowing what we have, we cannot protect it.

Ends

Further Information

Please contact Anna Quenby, Catherine Owen or Oliver Basciano in the Press Office at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5607. E-mail: pr@kew.org .

Images at www.kew.org/press/images . Please contact the Press Office for passwords.

Notes to Editors

Drakaea was discovered by the famous botanist John Lindley in 1840, and named after the accomplished botanical artist, Sarah Anne 'Ducky' Drake, a friend of the Lindley family.

Journal:   Australian Systematic Botany is an international journal of plant taxonomy and welcomes papers of high-quality original research, including critical reviews. The scope is intentionally broad, and covers all branches of systematic botany, contributing to the understanding of biodiversity through advancement of the taxonomy, biogeographic and evolutionary knowledge of all algal, fungal and other plant groups. ASB also publishes the LAS Johnson Review Series

[http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/151/aid/2207.htm].  

Prof. Stephen Hopper became Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in October 2006. He is an internationally-recognised plant conservation biologist, best known for pioneering research leading to positive conservation outcomes in one of the few temperate-zone global biodiversity hotspots, for the collaborative discovery, classification and description 300 new plant taxa (eucalypts, orchids, Haemodoraceae), and for leading the delivery of improvements to programs and infrastructure at Kings Park and Botanic Garden to world-class standards. Currently developing and testing new theory on the evolution and conservation of biodiversity on the world's oldest landscapes.

Andrew P. Brown is the Threatened Flora Coordinator at the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation and honorary Curator of the Orchidaceae and Myoporaceae at the Western Australian Herbarium. Andrew is a foundation member of the Western Australian Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group and has conducted over 30 years research into the Western Australian orchidaceae, in particular the areas of orchid biology, ecology, taxonomy and genetics. Current interests include the generic classification of Australian orchids and ongoing taxonomic research.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world.   Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction and its 132 hectares of landscaped gardens attract over one million visitors per year.   Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and represents over 250 years of historical landscape.   For further information please visit www.kew.org.

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