[Pollinator] Chloropid pollinators and orchid taxonomy

[Peter Bernhardt]

Here is another case in which over zealous taxonomy can lead us astray
several times over concealing known aspects of life-cycles described
sometime ago.   Recently, chloropid flies were photographed as pollinators
of midge orchids (Corunastylis) in eastern Australia.  Sounds exciting (and
is) but... the system was photographed in color way back in the 1960's and
photos appeared in Cady and Rotherham's "Australian Native Orchids: In
Color (1970, Charles Tuttle and Co., plate 34, page 42).  The flies were
first identified as drosophilids (p. 38) in that book, not as chloropids,
although the fly in the color photo is called Conioscinella becker.  In
fact, a famous amateur pollination biologist (Edith Coleman) had a look at
small flies and these "furry midge orchids" back in 1934 (without color
photos).

How did much of this information get lost or ignored?  The orchid enticing
the chloropid was originally placed in the genus Prasophyllum then it was
moved to Genoplesium.  Now it is in the genus Corunastylis (see attached).
The people in this recent video think they've found something astonishingly
new.  See the link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACG1iNk6k7M

This might not even be a case of pollination by deceit as insisted upon in
the video.  Closely related Prasophyllum s.s. and Microtis species make
nectar and have discernible glands.  However, an Australian colleague has
found males and female chloropids carrying the pollinaria.  If these midge
orchids are mimics, it may be more likely they are food, not sex mimics.

Is there a lesson to be learned here?  Well, I warn my students that many
(most?) scientific names have a shelf life and it's hard to keep up with
all the changes.  Usually the name change clarifies parameters between
species and their lineages but these days it's my impression that name
changes often reflect little more than justification for believing in the
infallible accuracy of genetic-molecular analyses.

Peter
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