Mr Andrew Bird1

1La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia

Biography:

Andrew Bird is a Masters candidate at La Trobe University, in the department of Environment and Genetics. After completing a BsC in Wildlife Conservation Biology at the University of Adelaide, Andrew transferred to LTU where he has since undertaken a Masters by research degree under the supervision of Dr Ryan Phillips and Dr Noushka Reiter. Andrew's current research interests involve resolving taxonomy of Australian sexually deceptive orchids through their pollinators, and investigating how sexually deceptive orchids manipulate the behaviours of their pollinators to achieve pollination. Andrew has extensive laboratory and field experience in entomology, botany, and ecology, and has been mentored by Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, with whom he co-authored a major taxonomic review of the Australian wasp genus Glyptapanteles.

Abstract:

The taxonomy of Australian orchids is notoriously challenging, with many diverse radiations of morphologically similar species. In particular, species pollinated by sexual deception of male insects frequently pose the biggest taxonomic challenges because pollinator attraction is based predominantly on odour, meaning that floral morphology often lacks discrete interspecific differences. How then, can species be readily identified? Pollinators of sexually deceptive orchids can be readily attracted by relocating picked flowers to new locations, eliciting renewed, and sometimes frenzied, responses from male pollinators. This pollinator baiting approach can be used to conduct experiments to distinguish orchid species based on the pollinator response. Pollinator baiting has previously uncovered numerous cryptic species across multiple orchid genera in Australia and has aided in clarifying species boundaries. This approach is particularly important for Caladenia, a large and taxonomically challenging genus with many species that are threatened. Drawing on new results from my Masters research, I will use Caladenia tentaculata as a case study to illustrate how pollinator responses of sexually deceived thynnine wasps can help resolve long standing taxonomic debates, and potentially identify previously unrecognised species. Further, I demonstrate how orchid flowers attract sexually deceived pollinators and manipulate their behaviours to achieve pollination.