Platanthera flava var. herbiola [Northern Tubercled] [pollination & insect interaction]

Orchid Weevil [Stethobaris ovata] on Platanthera Flava var. herbiola. Luzerne county, Pa. 6-14-26

Plume Moth [Pterophoridae] nectaring on Plantantera flava var. herbiola [Northern Tubercled orchid] most likely a pollinator for this orchid. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-16-26.

Little Glassywing [Vernia verna] nectaring Plantantera flava var. herbiola [Northern Tubercled orchid] should be considered a pollinator for this orchid. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-16-26.

These diagrams show the ingenious lengths that one orchid has developed to get itself pollinated and continue its species. It may look like just another pretty flower to you and I but there is a whole lot more going on here, because before you is a ingenious trap, and the insects involved have no idea just what is about to happen to them. First insects such as butterflies or moths are lured by a sweet smell and the nectar this orchid provides to entice the pollinators to it and to look for the nectar. This orchid the Northern Tubercled [Platanthera flava var. herbiola] has also evolved to have a tubercle or ridge on its lip to divide the entrance to the nectary into two tiny openings. These two openings force specific insects trying to find just where the sweet fragrance is coming from, to probe its proboscis deep into nectary [spur], and the now trap has been sprung. In doing so this forces its proboscis to come into contact with the sticky viscidium and when the insect leaves it pulls the pollinarium out of the anther sac. Flying to another flower, with the pollinarium attached to its proboscis, it deposits the pollinium [pollen mass], at the tip of the pollinarium, onto the stigma of the new flower and pollination has been completed. The insect is oblivious to what has just happened as it just wants its sweet reward, so plant and insect have a relationship that benefits both. And you and I thought this orchid was just another pretty face! Other Platanther species use a similar plant structure to make sure the pollinarium is attached to the proboscis of the pollinator such as P. psycodes and P. lacera. The pollination of these orchids is in contrast to other Platanthers species such as P. ciliaris and P. blephariglottis and others where the pollinarium is attached to the eye [by the viscidium] to the pollinator.

Orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta) hunting on Platanthera flava var. herbiola. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26

Bicolored Pyrausta Moth [Pyrausta bicoloralis] nectaring and a possible pollinator for Platanthera flava var. herbiola. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-16-26

Yellow Spotted Web Worm Moth [Anageshna primordialis] nectaring and pollinating Platanthera flava var. herbiola. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-16-26

Yellow Spotted Web Worm Moth [Anageshna primordialis] exploring a new opening at the top of the flower made by a unknown insect and a possible "short cut" to the spur and nectar. Platanthera flava var. herbiola. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26

Yellow Spotted Web Worm Moth [Anageshna primordialis] on Platanthera flava var. herbiola. shown with grains of pollen on its eye, Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26

Alien Probole [Geometrid] nectaring and pollinating Platanthera flava var.herbiola. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26 [above & below]

Alien Probole [Geometrid] nectaring and pollinating Platanthera flava var.herbiola. Shown with Pollinarium on its proboscis. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26 [above & below]

Yellow Spotted Web Worm Moth [Anageshna primordialis] nectaring and pollinating Platanthera flava var. herbiola. shown with pollinarium on its proboscis, Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26

A great day filled with surprises! After many years and countless hours of trying to capture the pollinator of the Northern Tubercled Orchid [Platanthera flava var. herbiola]. This year for the very first time it happened right in front of me, as I notice at least three species of daytime nectaring moths, besides the plume moths that I have been observing here for many years. These moths were nectaring on P. flava two of which I was able to photograph with a complete pollinarium attached to their proboscis by the sticky viscidium located at the tip of the pollinarium. The Pollinarium in made up of three parts first the sticky viscidium second the stipe or caudicle [that part that connects the viscidium with the pollinium [pollen mass] third the pollinium [pollen mass]. When the moth has its proboscis in the spur feeding on nectar the proboscis comes into contact with the viscidium and pulls the pollinarium [containing the pollinium or pollen] out of the anther sack. The moth eventually went to the other side of the flower, this orchid has a tubercled or ridge running down the center of the lip dividing it into two and forcing the pollinator [in this case a moth] into one of two entances into the nectary and forcing its proboscis to come into the viscidium and thus pulling out the pollinarium from the anther sack. After the moth had visited both sides of the flower and had left with the pollinarium no longer visible on its proboscis, I took a close up picture of the stigma and there located on the stigma was now the pollinium [pollen mass]. You could also see the left anther sack was missing its pollinarium. I was finally able to capture, actually in real time, this orchid being pollinated. My excitement and joy and the privilege that I felt at being able to witness one of natures wonders, the ingenious world of orchid pollination, could hardly be contained and will stay with me the rest of my life! This particular moth is the Yellow Spotted Webworm [Anageshna primordialis] and since it is now documented that moths are pollinators of Platanthera flava I am more convinced that ever that the Plume Moths, that are always at this place in great numbers, must also be pollinators of this orchid, and one of these years hopefully it will be confirmed. There isn't anything that I would rather be doing than just sitting and observing orchid and insect interaction, and you can be sure that I will be back again next year and maybe just maybe find and see more of natures surprises! Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26

Yellow Spotted Web Worm Moth [Anageshna primordialis] shown nectaring and pollinating Platanthera flava var. herbiola. Notice the pollinarium on its proboscis in some of the picrures. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-14-26

Plume Moths on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25. Plume Moths are a possible pollinator for this orchid.

Analeptura lineola on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25

Assissin Bug probing with its proboscis into the nectary of Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25

Assissin Bug on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25

Assissin Bug & Sweat Bee on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25

Mosquito on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25. Mosquitoes are thought to be a pollinator for this species. Notice what appears to be pollinia on its proboscis or eye.

Mosquito on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25. Mosquitoes are thought to be a pollinator for this species. [above & below]

Plume Moth on Platanthera flava, showing its amazing proboscis in the act of being deployed . Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25. Plume Moths are a possible pollinator for this orchid.

Plume Moth on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25. Plume Moths are a possible pollinator for this orchid.

Platanthera flava has a tubercle [knuckle or ridge] in the back of its lip to help guide insects, in this case a Plume Moth, and its proboscis to one side of the ridge or the other and into a tiny hole and the entrance to the nectary spur. In this way the proboscis is forced to come into contact with the sticky viscidium at the base of the anther sac. Upon leaving the flower the viscidium, now attached to the proboscis, pulls the pollinarium from the anther sac. The insect flying to the next plant brushes the pollinia and the pollinium contained within, onto the stigma of the flower and in this way pollination has been achieved. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25. Plume Moths are a possible pollinator for this orchid.

Plume Moth on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25. Plume Moths are a possible pollinator for this orchid.

This Assassin Bug has caught a Mosqito while hunting on Platanthera flava, and is in the process of sucking out its fluids through its curved proboscis, you can see the Mosquito own proboscis through the legs of the Assassin bug. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-29-25

Plume Moth on Northern Tubercled Orchid [Platanthera flava]. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-25-24

Celery Leftier Moth caterpillar seen feeding on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-27-24

Unknown spider hunting on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-27-24

Marsh Fly (Euthycera arcuata] on Platanthera flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-27-24

Six Spotted Orbweaver [Araniella displicata] hunting on Platanthera Flava. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-27-24.

These two pictures above and below tries to help unravel the mysteries of the pollination of Platanthera Flava. First the tubercle at the back of the lip divides the nectary into two openings which forces the pollinator [Yellow Spotted Webworm [Anageshna drimordialis] is a known pollinator] and its proboscis to come into contact with viscidium. When the moth leaves it pulls the pollinia from the anther sack and is now stuck to the proboscis, upon entering the next flower the pollinia comes into contact with the stigma and pollination has now been completeted. Notice the anther sack on the right is empty and the pollinarium has been removed and the viscidium is also missing as it has been successfully visited by a pollinator. Just one tiny flower on one one orchid and its amazing strategy for completing pollination and the continuation of its species.

These pictures above & below shows a complete pollinia has been succesfully deposited on the stigma and pollination has beeen completed. Platanthera flava

Plume Moth on Northern Tubercled Orchid [Platanthera flava]. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-25-24

This Plume Moth is searching the left side of the tubercle [the ridge in the middle] with its proboscis trying to locate the openning to nectary, and thus the spur containing the nectar. Northern Tubercled Orchid [Platanthera flava]. Another ingenious example of an orchid finding a way to force a pollinator to come into contact with the anther sacks and the pollinarium and the pollinia contained within. In the case of P. flava because of the tubercle, the pollinator can only enter the nectary either on the left or right side where it forced to come into with the anther sack. Luzerne County, Pa. 6-25-24 [it is unknown whether plume moths are a pollinator of this orchid, but it would seem that this picture and others are strong evidence to support it, but more research is needed]

These two pictures [above and below] clearly demonstrates the incredible, ingenious lengths that just one orchid, in this case Northern Tubercled Orchid [Platanthera flava], has gone to insure that a moth [in this instance a plume moth] will line up correctly with the nectary opening through a tubercle placed in perfectly in the middle of the lip. All this to ensure that the moths proboscis will come into contact with the anther sack holding the pollen and hopefully and possibly [in the case of the plume moth] pollination will occur by this pollen coming into contact with the stigma on the next flower.

My Afternoon with Twelve Orchids by David J. Hand

On Sunday June 25 in Carbon County, Pa. I went to see a population of Platanthera flava [Northern Tubercled Orchid]. I had seen this population 12 years ago and had remembered seeing Plume Moths on P. flava. I was not very interested in orchid pollination at the time or interaction between insects and orchids as I am today. When I had gotten there on Sunday, I was excited to say the least, could it be possible that what I had witnessed all those years ago, could still be seen, or was it a just a chance encounter that I had many years earlier. To my amazement when I reached the area, I found 12 plants in a cluster. And there just as I had remembered from 12 years ago, there were Plume Moths covering, and apparently, feeding of the flowers in the middle of the day.
I sat down in the middle of the flowers and knew what I had to do, try and document to the best of my ability just what I was seeing by observing and photographing these tiny moths interacting with the orchid.
After one of the finest days in the field I have ever had just observing and photographing, and never moving for four hours and taking four thousand pictures, I was more in awe of the natural world than ever. These tiny Plume Moths, not much bigger than a mosquito, are fascinating and beautiful creatures in their own right, and I can see spending one’s life pursuing and studying these tiny jewels of the insect world, insects that I had never seen before except on these two occasions separated by twelve years.
At first, they would be drawn to the flowers by a sweet scent and always came in from downwind. [P. flava are noticeably fragrant] They would attach themselves to the flowers and place their proboscis in a trough, on the left or right side of the flower created by a prominent tubercle in the middle of the lower lip. This trough aligns perfectly to a tiny opening to the nectary and spur.
But I also observed moths and their proboscis seemly collecting tiny grains of pollen from the area of the anther sacks. I observed many anther sacs that seemed to be ruptured with tiny grains of pollen [pollinia] laying around free of the anther sacs. The moths, with their proboscis, would take a great deal of time probing and exploring inside the flowers. After an extended time of foraging, they would pull their heads from out of the flower, and you could visibly see tiny grains of pollinia on their mouth parts, heads and faces. These tiny grains were also visible on the proboscis as they would pull it toward their mouth parts and feed on it.
I am no expert, and I am not suggesting that what I observed that day was the pollination of Plathanthera flava by Plume Moths, that is for others much more educated and learned than myself to decide. But what I am suggesting is we have so much to learn from nature and there is so much the natural world can teach us by just sitting down and observing what is all around us and what we take for granted every day. There in the tiny blades of grass there is a whole world we never see or understand, and I am so very grateful for it, this interaction between a tiny unseen moth and an orchid and the simple beauty of life all around us, even the life we don’t see. And whether we see it or not you can bet that it is always there, this unseen beautiful world around us.
These pictures clearly demonstrates the incredible, ingenious lengths that just one orchid, in this case Northern Tubercled Orchid [Platanthera flava], has gone to insure that a moth [in this instance a plume moth] will line up correctly with the nectary opening through a tubercle placed in perfectly in the middle of the lip. All this to ensure that the moths proboscis will come into contact with the anther sack holding the pollen and hopefully and possibly [in the case of the plume moth] pollination will occur by this pollen coming into contact with the stigma on the next flower.

This picture is an enlargement of the picture below, it shows what appears to be possibly pollinarium on the proboscis of Plume Moth. Plume Moth is not known to be a pollinator of Platanthera flava, but this picture may suggest otherwise. Carbon County, Pa. 6-29-12

Plume Moth, a possible pollinator for Platanthera flava, searching for nectar, as it does emit a very sweet fragrance. Carbon County, Pa. 6-29-12

Plume Moths, a possible pollinator for Platanthera flava, searching for nectar, as it does emit a very sweet fragrance. Carbon County, Pa. 6-29-12

Platanthera flava var. herbiola [Northern Tubercled] ​[pollination & insect interaction]

My Afternoon with Twelve Orchids by David J. Hand

Platanthera flava var. herbiola [Northern Tubercled] [pollination & insect interaction]