Subspecies include:
Onychogomphus forcipatus var. albotibialis  Schmidt, 1954
Onychogomphus forcipatus var. forcipatus  (Linnaeus, 1758)
Onychogomphus forcipatus var. unguiculatus  (Vander Linden, 1820)


This quite common and widespread dragonfly is present in most of Europe, in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Turkmenistan.


These dragonflies usually inhabit clean rivers with a little faster running water and gravel or sandy banks. Occasionally they are also present at large lakes.


The adults of Onychogomphus forcipatus grow up to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) long, with a wingspan of 5.5–7.5 centimetres (2.2–3.0 in). The eyes of these medium-sized dragonflies are widely separated and grey-to-green. The two black lines on the side of the thorax are relatively narrow and touch the midline. It has a yellow line on the vertex and two cells above the anal triangle. The abdomen in males is fitted with three hooks of large size (anal appendages). Cercoids may be dark and have a subterminal tooth.  The base of the hindwing is angled in males and rounded in females.
This species is rather similar to Onychogomphus uncatus. The two species can be distinguished on the basis of the shape and extension of the black markings, especially on the thorax and on the last abdominal segments.


Adults can be encountered close to running water and lakes from June through September. In Southern Europe, the emergence period typically begins in April. In Cyprus, the flight season of the subspecies O. f. albotibialis is from late March to October. This subspecies is callified as a Near-threatened species. After the mating the females lay about 500 eggs into the water. Larvae dug and live buried in the bottom. Their life cycle from egg to imago lasts about 3–5 years.


Operophtera bruceata, the Bruce spanworm, hunter's moth, or native winter moth is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by George Duryea Hulst in 1886. It is found from coast to coast in southern Canada and the northern parts of the United States.
The wingspan of the males is 25–30 mm. Females have underdeveloped wings and do not fly. Adults are on wing from October to December.
Bruce spanworm looks very similar and has a similar life cycle to the invasive congener winter moth (O. brumata). Bruce spanworm is known to hybridize with winter moth. The two species look almost identical to one another; however, they can be distinguished morphologically by comparing uncus shape or by using DNA analyses. Bruce spanworm uses the same pheromone as winter moth.
The larvae hatch in the early spring after overwintering as eggs. The neonates primarily feed on the buds and nearly unfurled leaves of sugar maple, American beech and trembling aspen. They have also been recorded on willow and various other deciduous trees.  After feeding for a few weeks, the late instar caterpillars drop down to the soil and build an earthen cocoon.  The pupate until the late fall or early winter when they emerge as adults.
Disease from viruses and microsporidia have been noted to effect the larvae and pupae of Bruce spanworm.  Virus infections by a nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) baculovirus was found to be low in Bruce spanworm populations collected in the northeast U.S. and was found to be related to but distinct from the NPV that was detected in winter moth in the same region. However, collections for Bruce spanworm larvae from an outbreak population in Maine had high levels of infection by microsporidia.


The winter moth (Operophtera brumata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is an abundant species of Europe and the Near East and a famous study organism for evaluating insect population dynamics. It is one of very few lepidopterans of temperate regions in which adults are active in late fall and early winter. The adults use endothermy  for movement in these cold temperatures. The female of this species is virtually wingless and cannot fly, but the male is fully winged and flies strongly. After the initial frosts of late fall, the females emerge from their pupa, walk to and up trees, there emitting pheromones in the evening to attract males. Fertilized, she ascends to lay, on average, around 100 eggs.  Typically, the larger the female moth is the more eggs she lays.
Winter moths are considered an invasive species in North America. Nova Scotia, Canada, experienced the first confirmed infestations in the 1930s.  It was later accidentally introduced to Oregon in the 1950s and the Vancouver area of British Columbia around 1970. Defoliation by the moth was first noted in eastern states of the United States in the late 1990s, and is now well established in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine. Winter moth is confirmed present in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. In Massachusetts, the moths have attracted the attention of several media outlets due to the severity of the infestation. Efforts at biological control are underway.


The forewing ground colour of the winged males varies from grey-yellow to beige-brown or occasionally slightly reddish-tinted. The patterns are often band-shaped dark brownish, often indistinct. The fringe is yellowish. The hindwings are pale grey or yellow grey. The antennae are short and finely hairy. Because the female is wingless, many think she is wingless, but in fact female winter moths have greatly reduced wings. The flightless female has a brownish-grey body with rudimentary wing stubs that are brown to grey and have dark bands. Body length for both sexes approximately 1.0 centimeters. Larvae at hatching are 1/10 inch (2.5 mm) in length and will grow to 3/4 inch (20 mm) over a six-week period.  In North America, winter moth can be confused with the related native species Bruce spanworm (Operophtera bruceata).  In fact, the two species hybridize.


Native to Northern and Central Europe: In the South, its range extends to Northern Italy; in the East to the Caucasus and Asia Minor; in the North to the Baltic. The genetic populations of winter moth in Europe are a result of recolonization following the last glacial period. As an invasive species, this moth is found in Nova Scotia, coastal New England (Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York) and also the Pacific northwest (mainly Vancouver Island). In New England, expansion inland and north appears to be curtailed by cold winter temperatures, so for example, coastal Maine but not inland. Locally milder winters, as part of global climate change, may be allowing expansion of afflicted territory. A study conducted in Massachusetts documented that winter moth defoliation reduced the annual trunk diameter growth rate of oak trees by an average of 47% while not significantly impacting growth rates of the less defoliated maple trees.


Winter moth larvae (caterpillars) emerge in early spring from egg masses laid near leaf buds after a series of days in which the daytime high temperatures reach into the 50s Fahrenheit. Recently hatched larvae feed on expanding leaf buds, often after having burrowed inside the bud, and later on foliage, for approximately six weeks. In addition to feeding on the tree where they hatched, young larvae will also product silk strands to 'balloon' (be wind-blown) to other trees. By mid-May the larvae, green in color and about an inch long, descend to the ground. Very little mortality due to disease has been noted in winter moth larvae in North America.
Pupation occurs in the soil in late May. Adults emerge from the soil in mid-late November. The female winter moths are flightless but release a sex pheromone to attract males. After mating, the female lays between 150-350 tiny eggs in bark crevices, on branches, in lichen, and under bark scales. With such a long pupal period, winter moth is vulnerable to numerous pupal predators and parasitoids.
Research conducted in the Netherlands indicated that as climate warming is causing spring temperatures to become warmer sooner, some of the winter moth eggs were hatching before tree leaf buds - first food for the caterpillars - had begun to open. Early hatchlings starved. Late hatchlings survived. Because hatch timing is genetically controlled, the moths are evolving to resynchronize with bud opening by delaying the response to the temperature trigger by 5 to 10 days. The larvae, like the adults, can withstand below freezing temperatures at night. Larval dispersal is the dominant source of density-dependent larval mortality and likely regulates high density population dynamics of winter moth in New England. Larvae prefer Oak and Apple, but also feed on Maple, Birch, Hornbeam, Chestnut, Hazel, Quince, Beech, Larch, Poplar, Cherry, Pear, Rose, Raspberry, Blueberry, Willow, Elm, and other leafy trees and shrubs.


The winter moth is native to Europe, but invaded the northeast of the United States in the late 1990s. As of 2007, winter moths have spread to coastal Maine, eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, southeastern Connecticut, and eastern Long Island. The moths feed on a wide range of deciduous leaves, and some conifers. This has caused defoliation of the trees across the states in which the moths live. Between 2003 and 2015 winter moths caused defoliation of forests and shade trees from between 2,266 and 36,360 ha/yr in Massachusetts alone.


In Europe, where winter moths are native, two parasitic species, a wasp (Agrypon flaveolatum) and a fly (Cyzenis albicans) prey on winter moth caterpillars. The wasps insert eggs into the larvae. The flies lay eggs on leaves, which the larvae ingest when eating the leaves. As a biological control, the wasp was introduced in Canada but is not being pursued in the United States because there is not sufficient evidence that the wasp would not lay eggs in larvae of other moth species. Introduction of C. albicans, which is species-specific to preying on winter moths, has proven successful in strongly reducing, although not entirely eliminating, winter moth infestation in Nova Scotia, Canada. Test introductions were begun in eastern Massachusetts in 2005. This proved successful, so more fly releases have taken place at sites from southeast Connecticut to coastal Maine. As moth densities can reach ten million larvae per acre, several years are needed before parasitism by the flies reaches 20-50%. Once this is achieved the winter moth density declines and leaf defoliation is reduced to levels not as harmful to the trees. The delay in establishment is likely the result of heavy mortality from predators and hyperparasitoids on the pupating C. albicans. Management of winter moth in Massachusetts using biological control with C. albicans is showing positive results.
There are different ways to successfully control the winter moth population depending on the time of year. During the late fall and early winter, a dormant oil stray can be used to suffocate the eggs. When the eggs are newly hatched in late March and early April Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a safe and effective way to control caterpillars. As the caterpillars get bigger, spinosad is also effective.


Ophraella communa, common name ragweed leaf beetle, is a species of beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidae.


This species is native to North America (Canada, United States and Mexico) and it has been introduced in Asia and Europe, where it arrived in 2013.


Ophraella communa can reach a length of 3.4–4.1 millimetres (0.13–0.16 in) in males, of 3.9–4.3 millimetres (0.15–0.17 in) in females. The head is yellowish, with dark brown spots at the back. Body is coarsely punctured. Antennae are dark brown. Pronotum is yellowish or pale brown, with three black or dark brown spots. Elytra are yellowish or pale brown and show dark brown longitudinal stripes.


This species feeds almost exclusively (oligophagy) on leaves and flowers of the family Asteraceae, tribe Heliantheae, e.g. sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) and rough cockleburs (Xanthium strumarium), with a marked predilection for common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), which is invasive in Europe and Asia.
The eggs are laid on the underside of young leaves of the host plants. The eggs are pear-shaped, with an hexagonal microsculpture. They are at first yellow, but quickly change their color to orange. Before the pupation, the beetles form cocoons on a leaf tip. Pupation lasts one to two weeks. After hatching, the adults remain on their host plants, but later they can migrate up to 25 km within one day.


Ophrys apifera, known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, as well as of a highly selective and highly evolved plant–pollinator relationship.


Ophrys apifera grows to a height of 15–50 centimetres (6–20 in). This hardy orchid develops small rosettes of leaves in autumn that continue to grow slowly during winter. Basal leaves are ovate or oblong-lanceolate, and upper leaves and bracts are ovate-lanceolate and sheathing. Leaves exhibit parallel venation.
The plant blooms from mid-April in continental Europe, but in the United Kingdom it flowers June to July. A flower spike is produced, composed from one to twelve flowers. Three large, purple sepals surround the base of the flower, which can easily be mistaken for petals. The true petals lie just above the sepals as two short, pubescent green structures protruding laterally from a central column. A third, modified petal, the labellum, sits at the bottom of the column as a landing pad for pollinators. The labellum is trilobed, with two pronounced humps on the hairy lateral lobes and a hairy median lobe having a pattern that mimics the abdomen of a bee. The pattern of labellum colouration is quite variable.
The central column is an adaptation unique to orchids, in which the stamens and pistil fused together to form one central rib. The anther cap can be found at the top, dorsal side of the column, while the stigma is hidden below on the ventral side. Two pollinia hang from the column over the labellum.


Ophrys apifera is widespread across central and southern Europe, as well as North Africa and the Middle East. Its range stretches from Portugal, Ireland and Denmark east to Iran and the Caucasus. It is quite common in the Mediterranean region eastwards to the Black Sea, (Codes)  but is less common in its northern range being uncommon or local in Germany and Ireland.
In the United Kingdom, it has a distinct southeastern preference, being more common in England. Recently it has been found in the southwest of England in Butleigh near Glastonbury in Somerset and Dorchester, Dorset; whereas it is only to be found in coastal regions of Wales as well as the Hodbarrow Nature Reserve in Millom, Cumbria, and some parts of Northern Ireland. It is relatively common in the northeast of England and in recent years large numbers have appeared in the grass verges surrounding the Metro Centre in Gateshead. In Scotland, it was thought to be extinct, but was rediscovered in Ayrshire in 2003. In some countries the plants have protected status. They are unusual in that in some years they appear in great numbers, then sometimes only reappear after an absence of many years.
The genus Ophrys is the most species-rich (i.e. diverse) genus of orchids in Europe and the Mediterranean with over 200 species, according to Orchids of Britain and Europe by Pierre Delforge.


Ophrys apifera generally grows on semi-dry turf, in grassland, on limestone, calcareous dunes or in open areas in woodland. It prefers well-drained calcareous soils, low in nutrients, in bright light or dim light. It is a major colonizer of sites disturbed by human activity, such as old quarries, roadside verges and airfields. O. apifera is one of the most likely European orchid species to establish itself within towns and cities.
In order to extract sufficient nutrients from the substrata it grows in, Ophrys apifera relies upon a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi in the genus Tulasnella, and possibly other genera.
Bee orchids are threatened by mowing during flowering, or before the seed has been released. However, they often also disappear from sites that become overgrown with shrubs and/or trees, as the orchids fail to compete with these large plants for light. For these reasons, bee orchids are often found on the edge of mown areas, beside paths or within areas that are mown very infrequently. The Sussex Wildlife Trust recommends mowing at the end of July and removing the cuttings to benefit bee orchids. In prehistory, the species presumably relied upon seasonal grazing pressure, or was limited to early succession habitats and permanent grassland.


Ophrys apifera has been considered to preferentially practice self-pollination. The flowers are almost exclusively self-pollinating in the northern ranges of the plant's distribution, however pollination by the solitary bee Eucera longicornis occurs in the Mediterranean region, where Ophrys apifera is more common. E. longicornis males have been observed attempting to copulate with the flowers, which emit allomones that mimic the scent of the female bee. These allomones are also known to attract bee species Tetralonia cressa and Eucera pulveraceae. In addition to chemosensory mimicry, the labellum of the flower acts as a visual decoy that the male bee confuses for a female. It is believed that male bees preferentially select orchids with the most bee-like labellum and attempt copulation, at which point the pollinia stick to the bee during the pseudocopulation. This achieves pollen transfer and, potentially, pollination.


Floral parts display the presence of quercetin and kaempferol glycosides, which are supposed to be acylated, as well as cinnamic acid derivatives. The pink outer tepals show the presence of anthocyanins.


The name Ophrys derives from the Greek word ophrys, meaning "eyebrow." It is believed that women in ancient Rome used to darken their eyebrows with the orchid plant, thus giving it its name. The Latin specific epithet apifera means "bee-bearing" or "bee-bringing" and refers to the bee-shaped labellum of the orchid.
Its root tubers were ground into a powder called salep in the Ottoman Empire, which was believed to have nutritional, medicinal, and aphrodisiac values. The product's popularity spread to England in the 17th and 18th century and then to a few other European countries. Salep is still used today in medicines and traditional dishes in Turkey, which was formerly the region of the Ottoman Empire, and throughout the Middle East. It is also a popular import in the Netherlands, Cyprus, and Germany for its supposed medicinal properties.
Ophrys apifera is the county flower of Bedfordshire.
This species has appeared on postage stamps in many countries including Belgium, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the USSR. In 2009 the bee orchid appeared in a series of stamps printed in the United Kingdom to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species.


There are local extinctions of Ophrys spp. and potentially O. apifera in Turkey and Iran due to the excessive harvesting of wild orchids to produce salep products.
Since O. apifera relies heavily on its symbiotic relationship with Tulasnella fungi for survival, it is vulnerable to any chemicals, particularly fungicides, and threats which might reduce the fungi's prevalence.


Protected species status in Northern Ireland.
Endangered (EN) species status in Turkey, Ukraine, and Carpathian Mountains.
Critically Endangered (CR) species status in Czech Republic and Slovakia.


The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) named O. apifera an endangered species that is potentially an object of trade, setting strict regulations on trade of salep products. Turkey, Iran, Germany, the Netherlands, and Cyprus are all Parties to CITES and, in theory, must follow those regulations.
Turkey has banned the export of true salep (salep made from an orchid root).


The specific evolutionary relationships between members of this genus are still poorly understood, and the best method for classifying orchid species and their variants is highly debated. Some researchers propose classifying species based on their pollination tactics, while others propose classifying them based on the type of chemical emitted from the flower. A widely used and generally accepted method of classification distinguishes orchid species based on flower morphology. The taxonomy of O. apifera based on this classification scheme is as follows:
Kingdom Plantae, Phylum Tracheophyta, Subphylum Angiospermae, Class Liliopsida, Order Asparagales, Family Orchidaceae, Subfamily Orchidoideae, Genus Ophyrus, Species O. apifera.


Ophrys fusca, commonly known as the sombre bee-orchid or the dark bee-orchid, is a species of orchid native to the Mediterranean from southwestern Europe and northern Africa to western Asia. Most subspecies of the Ophrys fusca are pollinated by males Andrena bees.


Ophrys insectifera, the fly orchid, is a species of orchid and the type species of the genus Ophrys. It is remarkable as an example of sexually-deceptive pollination and floral mimicry as well as of a highly-selective and highly evolved plant-pollinator relationship.


Ophrys insectifera is a tuberous perennial, reaching 60 cm (2 ft) in height, which flowers across its range from May to July. It is a slender plant, with narrow upright leaves. A flower spike may carry 1-10 flowers, which have yellow-green sepals, very reduced, dark brown/black petals resembling the antennae of an insect and a long, narrow, lobed labellum, which is dark in colour, varying from maroon to black and on which there are two glossy depressions known as 'pseudoeyes' as well as an iridescent blue/grey patch evolved to resemble an insect's glistening wings. There is a rare yellow-flowered form of O. insectifera.
Chromosomes 2n=36


The genus name "Ophrys" derives from the Greek word "ophrys", meaning eyebrow, while the Latin epithet "insectifera" means insect-bearing or insect-carrying, referring to the unusual appearance of the flowers.


It is native to Europe, growing further north than most other species in the genus Ophrys, in Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltic states, and as far south as Greece and Spain. In the UK it is a rare species, with a southern distribution.
The plant favours sites with damp, alkaline, unimproved soil. It can be found growing in beech woodlands, on forest edges, in scrub, on limestone pavement, limestone grassland, in chalk pits and wet meadows, on cliffs as well as on disused railways.


The name arises because its inflorescence resembles a fly, although it is dependent on Hymenoptera for pollination. In the UK O. insectifera is pollinated by just two species of digger wasp: Argogorytes mystaceus and Argogorytes fargeii. The plants use scent to attract male wasps which pollinate the flowers as they attempt to mate with them. The scent released by the flowers mimic female sexual pheromones.
Both the insect species which pollinate fly orchids are observed to feed on Umbellifer flowers as adults and froghopper nymphs as larvae. A. mystaceus reproduces in woodland glades, while A. fargeii reproduces in open, sparsely vegetated habitats.
Ophrys insectifera depends upon a relationship with a mycorrhizal fungus in the soil around its roots. In experiments it has been found to grow in association with fungi in the Tulasnellaceae family. Due to the importance of this mycorrhizal partnership, orchids are particularly vulnerable to fungicide, but also other chemicals which could impact the growth of soil fungi or cause different fungi/bacteria species to dominate the soil they grow in.


Worldwide, this species is considered 'least concern', however in Great Britain its conservation status is 'vulnerable'.
This species is mainly threatened by habitat destruction, which takes several forms: drainage of fens, coniferisation of woodland and decline in coppicing of woodland. As it has a very specialised relationship with its pollinators it is also theorised to be particularly vulnerable to climate change.


Ophrys lutea, the yellow bee-orchid, is a species of orchid native to southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, the range extending from Portugal and Morocco to Syria.


Broad asymmetric lateral sepals, dorsal sepal lowered.
Extended petals, yellow or with a blue-grey or brown spotted velvety macula. Pollinated by male Andrena bees. This species is notable among Ophrys for the fact that the pollinating bees sit on the labellum facing away from the pollinaria instead of facing towards them, and thus collect the pollinaria with their abdomen.


Numerous subspecific names have been proposed, but as of May 2014 the following are accepted:
Ophrys lutea subsp. aspea (Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers) Faurh. - Tunisia, Libya
Ophrys lutea subsp. galilaea (H.Fleischm. & Bornm.) Soó - from Portugal and Morocco to Syria
Ophrys lutea subsp. lutea - from Portugal and Morocco to Turkey
Ophrys lutea subsp. melena Renz - Greece, Albania
Ophrys lutea subsp. sicula (Tineo 1817) - Italy


The orchid grows in full sun or shade on limey dry or damp soils, pastures, and thin woodland.
from the French Wikipedia; technical translation of some words still needing checking


Ophrys sphegodes, commonly known as the early spider-orchid, is a species of sexually-deceptive orchid native to Europe and the Middle East. It is a very varied species with many subspecies recognised.


Plant height varies with latitude. In the UK the maximum height is around 20 cm, but around the Mediterranean a height of 70 cm may be reached. Flowers March–May (April–May in northern latitudes). Each shoot may carry between 2 and 18 flowers.
The flowers have yellow-green sepals and a velvety red-brown labellum with a distinctive silvery-blue H marking so that the flowers much resemble an arthropod and especially a spider.
Similar to Ophrys fuciflora and Ophrys apifera but flowers differ in that late spider orchid and bee orchid have much smaller petals than sepals; in early spider orchid petals and sepals are a similar size. They are also distinguished by patches of colour on the labellum; late spider orchid has a yellow point at the centre of the distal end of the labellum, while bee orchid has a red patch at the proximal end of the labellum.


Found on unimproved alkaline meadows, woodland edges, as well as slopes, banks and waste land. It is widespread across most of Europe and the middle East from Britain south to Portugal and east to Iran.
In Britain, it is restricted to parts of Dorset, Hampshire, Kent and Sussex and is regarded as rare although where it is found it may be in stands of many hundreds of plants. It is classified as a British Red Data Book plant. Despite its apparent vulnerability, it has very successfully colonised the chalk spoil dumping grounds created near Dover at Samphire Hoe from the excavations of the Channel Tunnel. Worldwide, the IUCN conservation status of this species is least concern as of 2018.


In the UK Ophrys sphegodes is pollinated by the miner bee Andrena nigroaenea, a polylectic pollinator (i.e. one that visits many different species of flower), a bee species which requires dry sandy soils. Different subspecies have evolved to attract different pollinators.
This orchid species is able to form symbiotic relationships with a range of species of mycorrhizal fungi.


Ophrys comes from the Ancient Greek for eyebrow, perhaps a reference to the velvety brown appearance of the labellum. Sphegodes comes from the Ancient Greek  for wasp-like. This species was formerly called O. aranifera, meaning spider-carrying.
The genus Ophrys is the most species-rich (i.e. diverse) genus of orchids in Europe and the Mediterranean with over 200 species, according to 'Orchids of Britain and Europe' by Pierre Delforge.


Many subspecific and varietal names have been proposed. At the present time (May 2014), the following are recognized, one of them apparently originating as a hybrid between two of the others:
Ophrys sphegodes nothosubsp. jeanpertii (E.G.Camus) Del Prete & Conte - France, Spain, Balkans (O. sphegodes subsp. araneola × O. sphegodes subsp. sphegodes)
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. aesculapii (Renz) Soó ex J.J.Wood - Greece
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. araneola (Rchb.) M.Laínz - Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. atrata (Rchb.f.) A.Bolòs - from Portugal to Serbia
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. aveyronensis J.J.Wood - France, Spain
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. catalcana Kreutz - European Turkey
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. cretensis H.Baumann & Künkele - Crete and other Greek islands
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. epirotica (Renz) Gölz & H.R.Reinhard - Albania, Greece
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. gortynia H.Baumann & Künkele - Crete and other Greek islands
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. helenae (Renz) Soó & D.M.Moore - Albania, Greece
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. mammosa (Desf.) Soó ex E.Nelson - from the Balkans to Turkmenistan
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. melitensis (Nyman) E.Nelson - the Maltese islands
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. passionis (Sennen) Sanz & Nuet - France, Spain, Sardinia, Sicily, mainland Italy
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. sipontensis (R.Lorenz & Gembardt) H.A.Pedersen & Faurh. - Puglia
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. sphegodes - from Britain and Spain to Hungary and the Balkans
Ophrys sphegodes subsp. spruneri (Nyman) E.Nelson - Crete and other Greek islands


Ophrys tenthredinifera, the sawfly orchid, is a terrestrial species of orchid native to the Mediterranean region from Portugal and Morocco to Turkey. The common name refers to a purported resemblance between the flower and the sawfly, a wasp-like insect.
Many subspecies, varieties and forms have been proposed, but as of May 2014, none are recognized.


Ophthalmolepis lineolata, the southern Maori wrasse, is a species of wrasse endemic to the Indian Ocean coastal waters of Australia.  This species has been found at a minimum depth of 60 m (200 ft).  This species grows to 40 cm (16 in) in total length.  This species is the only known member of its genus.


The brimstone moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It should not be confused with the brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni.


This species is unmistakable within its range, with bright yellow wings marked with small brown patches along the costa of the forewing and a small brown-edged white stigma, also on the forewing. The wingspan is 33–46 mm. "0. luteolata L. The only European species. The name-typical form has on the forewing red-brown costal markings at the base, at the discal mark and triangularly at the apex; faint, irregularly grey antemedian and postmedian lines, interrupted at the veins. Hindwing with dark discal dot and faint grey postmedian line. — aestiva Vorh. & Müll.-Rutz is a smaller, more deeply coloured summer brood form. It seems to be the principal or only form in Tunis. — ab. flavissima Krulik. is almost entirely yellow, only with slight remnants of the costal markings. — ab. albescens Ckll. has the ground colour pure white instead of yellow. Very pale yellow examples have been separated as intermedia Harrison. — ab. niko Chr. is according to. Staudinger an extraordinary aberration with both wings broadly fuscous margined and the basal part of the forewing brownish. Perhaps accidental, as the yellow of this species is highly susceptible to various kinds of chemical action.- provincialis Ob. is a pale, weakly marked form from Provence. — emaculata Graes. lacks the apical patch of the forewing. Prevalent in Central Asia, accidental elsewhere. — mimulina Btlr.  has the cell-mark large, the lines strong, the 2 principal lines of the forewing ending in conspicuous red-brown spots on the hindmargin. N. India: Dharmsala etc."
The moth sometimes flies during the day but mainly at night, and is attracted to light.
The larva is brown or green with a "horn" on its back and feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs. Recorded food plants include apple, birch, blackthorn, currant, hawthorn, Prunus, rowan, Amelanchier and willow. The species, due to its complex life cycle, overwinters either as a larva or a pupa.


The brimstone is found throughout the Palearctic region and Western Asia.


The English zoologist Edward Bagnall Poulton, author of The Colours of Animals (1890) described countershading in insects including the caterpillar larvae of the brimstone moth. The American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer, generally considered the originator of the theory of countershading, credited Poulton with its partial discovery.


Opuntia basilaris, the beavertail cactus or beavertail pricklypear, is a cactus species found in the southwest United States.  It occurs mostly in the Mojave, Anza-Borrego, and Colorado Deserts, as well as in the Colorado Plateau and northwest Mexico.  It is also found throughout the Grand Canyon and Colorado River region as well as into southern Utah and Nevada, and in the western Arizona regions along the Lower Colorado River Valley.


Opuntia basilaris is a medium-sized to small prickly pear cactus 70–400 mm (2.8–15.7 in) tall, with pink to rose colored flowers. A single plant may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads. These are more or less blue-gray, depending on variety, 50–210 mm (2.0–8.3 in) long and less than 100 mm (3.9 in) wide and 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) thick. They are typically spineless, but as is typical for Opuntia species, have many small barbed bristles, called glochids, that easily penetrate the skin. Opuntia basilaris blooms from spring to early summer.


The species is variable in nature and several names under different ranks have been described. Only four of these are generally accepted.
Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris (2n=22)
Opuntia basilaris var. brachyclada (2n=22) – Little beavertail pricklypear
Opuntia basilaris var. heilii (2n=22) – Heil's beavertail
Opuntia basilaris var. longiareolata (2n=22) – Elongated beavertail prickly pear or Grand Canyon beavertail pricklypear
Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei(2n=33) – Trelease's beavertail prickly pear, Bakersfield cactus (This variety is designated as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act and California Endangered Species Act, which means that killing or possessing it is prohibited in California)
Some experts consider the Trelease's beavertail to be a full species (Bowen 1987, R. van de Hoek). It is unique among the varieties of Opuntia basilaris in that the areoles contain spines in addition to the bristles; this indicates that the species does vary a lot in its exterior.


Opuntia basilaris contains 0.01% mescaline and 4-hydroxy-3-5-dimethoxyphenethylamine.


The Cahuilla Native Americans used beavertail as a food staple. The buds were cooked or steamed, and then were eaten or stored. The large seeds were ground up to be eaten as mush.


Opuntia cespitosa, commonly called the eastern prickly pear, is a species of cactus native to North America. It is most common west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River, where it is found in the Midwest, Upper South and in Ontario. Its natural habitat is in dry, open areas, such as outcrops, glades, and barrens.
Opuntia cespitosa is a prostrate succulent shrub, usually no more than 1-2 segments tall. It has large white spines, and a low layer of reddish-brown glochids, which break off in the skin if touched. It produces a yellow and red flower in late spring.
This species was historically included in a broadly-defined Opuntia humifusa group, which is found further to the east. Opuntia cespitosa differs from Opuntia humifusa in its flowers having a red center.
It is invasive in South Africa. Some Hypogeococcus mealybugs are used as biological pest controls of this and other invasive cactuses there.


Opuntia chlorotica is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is a species of prickly pear native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Its common names include pancake prickly pear, flapjack prickly pear and dollarjoint prickly pear.
This cactus is bluish-green and manifests a bushy to erect form that may attain a height of two meters or more.
Some analysis of the prehistoric range of O. chlorotica has been conducted by studies in the Waterman Mountains of Arizona; these pollen core analyses indicate that this cactus species was present in northern Arizona in late Wisconsinan glaciation period.


Opuntia cochenillifera is a species of cactus in the subfamily Opuntioideae. It is endemic to Mexico, and is the most common species in Jamaica. The first description was in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus as Cactus cochenillifer. Philip Miller described it as Opuntia cochenillifera in 1768.


Opuntia engelmannii is a prickly pear common across the south-central and Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It goes by a variety of common names, including desert prickly pear, discus prickly pear, Engelmann's prickly pear in the US, and nopal, abrojo, joconostle, and vela de coyote in Mexico.
The nomenclatural history of this species is somewhat complicated due to the varieties, as well as its habit of hybridizing with Opuntia phaeacantha. It differs from Opuntia phaeacantha by being green year round instead of turning reddish purple during winter or dry seasons, as well as having yellow flowers with red centers.


Opuntia engelmannii var. cuija — nopal cuijo; endemic to Mexico, in Guanajuato, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí.
Opuntia engelmannii var. engelmannii — Engelmann's prickly pear; Mexico, southwestern U.S., California
Opuntia engelmannii var. flavispina — yellow-spined prickly pear; Arizona, Mexico
Opuntia engelmannii var. laevis — smooth prickly pear; Arizona
Opuntia engelmannii var. lindheimeri — Texas prickly pear; endemic to U.S. in Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas.
Opuntia engelmannii var. linguiformis — cow's tongue cactus, cow tongue prickly pear; Texas
Opuntia engelmannii var. flexospina is most likely a spiny form of Opuntia aciculata.


The Opuntia engelmannii range extends from California to Louisiana in the United States, and from Sonora (state)  and Chihuahua (state), to the Tamaulipan matorral in north and central Tamaulipas.
In the Sonoran Desert, terminal pads face predominantly east-west, so as to maximize the absorption of solar radiation during summer rains. Although found occasionally in the Mojave Desert, it tends to be replaced by Opuntia basilaris, which does not need the summer rain.
Naturalised in southern and eastern Africa, including Loisaba in Kenya.


The overall form of Opuntia engelmannii is generally shrubby, with dense clumps up to 3.5 metres (11 ft) high, usually with no apparent trunk. The pads are green (rarely blue-green), obovate to round, about 15–30 cm long and 12–20 cm wide.
The glochids are yellow initially, then brown with age. Spines are extremely variable, with anywhere from 1-8 per areole, and often absent from lower areoles; they are yellow to white, slightly flattened, and 1–6 cm long.
The flowers are yellow, occasionally reddish, 5–8 cm in diameter and about as long. Flowering is in April and May, with each bloom lasting only one day, opening at about 8AM and closing 8 hours later. Pollinators include solitary bees, such as the Antophoridae, and sap beetles.
The purple fleshy fruits are 3–7 cm long.


The fruits were a reliable summer food for Native American tribes. The Tohono O'odham of the Sonoran Desert, in particular,  classified the fruits by color, time of ripening, and how well they kept in storage.
Opuntia engelmannii is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use in drought tolerant gardens, container plantings, and natural landscaping projects.


Opuntia ficus-indica, the Indian fig opuntia, fig opuntia, or prickly pear, is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant grown in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. O. ficus-indica is the most widespread and most commercially important cactus. It is grown primarily as a fruit crop, and also for the vegetable nopales and other uses. Cacti are good crops for dry areas because they convert water into biomass efficiently. O. ficus-indica, as the most widespread of the long-domesticated cactuses, is as economically important as maize and blue agave in Mexico. Opuntia species hybridize easily, but the wild origin of O. ficus-indica is likely to have been in central Mexico where its closest genetic relatives are found.


Most culinary references to the "prickly pear" are referring to this species. The Spanish name tuna is also used for the fruit of this cactus, and for Opuntia in general; according to Alexander von Humboldt, it was a word of Taino origin taken into the Spanish language around 1500.
Common English names for the plant and its fruit are Indian fig opuntia, Barbary fig, cactus pear, prickly pear, and spineless cactus, among many. In Mexican Spanish, the plant is called nopal, a name that may be used in American English as culinary terms. Peninsular Spanish mostly uses higo chumbo for the fruit and chumbera for the plant.


O. ficus-indica is polyploid, hermaphroditic, and autogamous. As Opuntia species grow in semiarid environments, the main limiting factor in their environment is water. They have developed a number of adaptations to dry conditions, notably succulence.
A perennial shrub, O. ficus-indica can grow up to 5 m in height, with thick, succulent, and oblong to spatulate stems called cladodes. It has a water-repellent and sun-reflecting waxy epidermis. Cladodes that are 1–2 years old produce flowers, with the fruit's colours ranging from pale green to deep red.
The plants flower in three distinct colours: white, yellow, and red. The flowers first appear in early May through the early summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and the fruits ripen from August through October. The fruits are typically eaten, minus the thick outer skin, after chilling in a refrigerator for a few hours. They have a taste similar to sweet watermelon. The bright red/purple or white/yellowish flesh contains many tiny hard seeds that are usually swallowed, but should be avoided by those who have problems digesting seeds.


O. ficus-indica is consumed widely as food. The fruits are commercialized in many parts of the world, eaten raw, and have one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C of any fruit. The young "leaves" (actually cladodes, which technically are stems) are cooked and eaten as a vegetable known as nopalitos. They are sliced into strips, skinned or unskinned, and fried with eggs and jalapeños, served as a breakfast treat. They have a texture and flavor like green beans. The fruits or leaves can be boiled, used raw, or blended with fruit juice, cooked on a frying pan, and used as a side dish with chicken, or added to tacos. Jams and jellies are produced from the fruit, which resemble strawberries and figs in color and flavor. Mexicans may use Opuntia fruit to make an alcoholic drink called colonche.
In Sicily, a prickly pear-flavored liqueur called ficodi is produced, flavored somewhat like a medicinal aperitif. In Malta, a liqueur called bajtra (the Maltese name for prickly pear) is made from this fruit, which can be found growing wild in almost every field. On the island of Saint Helena, the prickly pear also gives its name to locally distilled liqueur, Tungi Spirit.


The cattle industry of the Southwest United States has begun to cultivate O. ficus-indica, both as a feed source for cattle and a boundary fence. Cattle are normally fed a spineless variety of the cactus. The cactus pads are low in dry matter and crude protein, but useful as a supplement in drought conditions. In addition to the food value, the moisture content adequately eliminates watering the cattle during drought. Numerous wildlife species use the prickly pear for food.  In severe drought years, the spines of wild prickly pear are sometimes burned off for use as emergency feed.


O. ficus-indica is planted in hedges to provide a cheap but effective erosion control in the Mediterranean basin. Under those hedges and adjacent areas, soil physical properties, nitrogen, and organic matter are considerably improved. Structural stability of the soil is enhanced, runoff and erosion are reduced, while water storage capacity and permeability is enhanced.
Prickly pear plantations also have a positive impact on plant growth of other species by improving severe environmental conditions which facilitate colonization and development of herbaceous species.
O. ficus-indica is being advantageously used in Tunisia and Algeria to slow and direct sand movement and enhance the restoration of vegetative cover, thus minimizing deterioration of built terraces with its deep and strong rooting system.


A commercial use for O. ficus-indica is for the large, sweet fruits, called tunas.  An area with a significant tuna-growing cultivation is Mexico. The cactus grows wild and cultivated to heights of 12–16 feet (3.7–4.9 m). In Namibia, O. ficus-indica is a common drought-resistant fodder plant. O. ficus-indica grows in many frost-free areas of the world, including the Southern United States.
Prickly pears are a massive weed problem for some parts of Australia, especially southeast Queensland, some inland parts of New South Wales, Victoria, and south-eastern and eastern South Australia.


The plant is considered an invasive species in northern Africa. Factors that limit the growth of prickly pear are rainfall, soil, atmospheric humidity, and temperature. Its minimum rainfall requirement is 200 mm per year as long as the soils are sandy and deep. The ideal growth conditions regarding rainfall are 200–400 mm (7.9–15.7 in) per year.
O. ficus-indica is sensitive to lack of oxygen in the root zone, requiring well-drained soils. It is similar to crassulacean acid metabolism species, which are not salt-tolerant in their root zone and growth may cease under high salt concentration. O. ficus-indica grows usually in regions where relative humidity is above 60% and saturation deficit occurs. It is absent in regions where less than 40% humidity occurs for more than a month. Mean daily temperature required to develop is at least 1.5–2.0 °C. At −10 to −12 °C, prickly pear growth is inhibited even if it is exposed to these temperatures only for a few minutes. The maximum temperature limit of prickly pear is above 50 °C.


As the fruits of O. ficus-indica are delicate, they need to be carefully harvested by hand. The small spines on the fruits are removed by rubbing them on an abrasive surface or sweeping them through grass. Before consumption, they are peeled.
The pads of the plant (mainly used as fodder) also must be harvested by hand. The pads are cut with a knife, detaching the pad from the plant in the joint. If O. ficus-indica is cultivated for forage production, spineless cultivars are preferred, but wild types of the plants also are used as fodder. In these cases, the spines need to be removed from the pads to avoid damage to the animals. Mostly, this is achieved by burning the spines off the pads.


O. ficus-indica for human and animal consumption is valuable for its water content in an arid environment, containing about 85% water as a water source for wildlife. The seeds contain 3–10%  protein and 6–13% of fatty acids, mainly linoleic acid.  However, the seeds contained in the fruits can be unpleasant to chew because of their hardness and can lead to constipation. For this reason, some agronomic studies in Italy and Mexico have focused on decreasing the seed content of Opuntia ficus-indica fruits.
As the fruit contains vitamin C (containing 25–30 mg per 100 g), it was once used to mitigate scurvy. Opuntia contains selenium.
The red color of the fruit and juice is due to betalains, (betanin and indicaxanthin). The plant also contains flavonoids, such as quercetin, isorhamnetin, and kaempferol.


The question of whether Opuntia lindheimeri should be treated as a full species or as a segregate of the closely related Opuntia engelmannii remains unsettled in the scientific community. Some treatments such as the early 20th century landmark monograph The Cactaceae consider is a segregated species, while others such as the Flora of North America confer it only variety status.
O. lindheimeri was first described as a species in 1850 by George Engelmann.


Opuntia macrocentra, the long-spined purplish prickly pear or purple pricklypear, is a cactus found in the lower Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico.    A member of the prickly pear genus,  this species of Opuntia is most notable as one of a few cacti that produce a purple pigmentation in the stem.   Other common names for this plant include black-spined pricklypear, long-spine prickly pear, purple pricklypear, and redeye prickly pear.
Opuntia macrocentra is an upright spreading shrub consisting of several joined segments called pads.  This cactus produces large colorful yellow and red flowers and dark red edible fruits.


Native populations of Opuntia macrocentra are found in Arizona, New Mexico, Southwestern Texas, and Northwestern Mexico.
This cactus is a slow growing perennial that inhabits a wide range of soil substrates and habitat types.  It can be found below the elevation of 5000 ft in areas of sandy desert flats, rocky hills, or valley grasslands.


Opuntia macrocentra is an upright spreading shrub, usually growing from 30–60 centimetres (1–2 ft) tall.  Individuals occasionally reach 1 metre (1 yard) in height.  The stem is blue-gray, blue-green, or purplish in color.  The purple pad color is the most intense at the edges of the pad or around the areoles.  The purple color comes from the production of a betalain (betacyanin) pigment that becomes more evident as the plant is stressed by drought or cold.


The cactus consists of smooth obovate to orbicular shaped pads that are connected to each other by the bottom edge or pad margin.  Each pad is from 10–20 centimetres (4–8 in) in width and 10–20 centimetres (4–8 in) in length, but is usually wider than it is long.  The areoles, highly reduced branch structures from which spines and glochids grow, are dark in color and can be found arranged in diagonal rows on the midstem segment.
Spines are produced on the upper half or the upper edge only of the pad. Each aerole will have from 1-3 central spines coming from it with the longest being 5–10 centimetres (2–4 in) in length.  The largest spine will be pointed in a markedly upward direction.  Spines are sometimes seen with a white or yellow tip.  Flowers are produced on the upper edge of the pads.


Flowers of Opuntia macrocentra are large sturdy flowers of bright colors.  They consist of yellow petals with red lower portions forming a bright red center. The visible internal reproductive structures are pale yellow to cream in color. This cactus produces flowers in spring, usually March through June. The flowers open in the midmorning, close at night and do not reopen.


If the flower is pollinated, the cactus will produce small oval shaped fruits ranging in color from bright red to dull purple when ripe.
The fruit produced is succulent and approximately half the size of the flower, from 2.5 to 4.0 centimetres (1 to 1+5⁄8 in) in length.  Each fruit has between 12-16 areoles. The rind of the fruit is purple and the inner pulp and juices are light purple to clear in color.  The fruit contains flattened, tan seeds that are less than approximately 4 millimetres (5⁄32 in) in length with a broad notch on one side and prominent ridge.


Because of its striking stem and flower color the Opuntia macrocentra cactus is cultivated as an ornamental plant for drought tolerant and native plant gardens, and as a potted plant.
Like many other cacti in the genus Opuntia, the fruit produced by Opuntia macrocentra is edible.
Collection of this cactus, and its fruit, is restricted in some areas for conservation needs.


Opuntia macrorhiza is a common and widespread species of cactus with the common names Plains Pricklypear or Prairie Pricklypear or Western Pricklypear. It is found throughout the Great Plains of the United States, from Texas to Minnesota, and west into the Rocky Mountain states to New Mexico, Utah, and perhaps Idaho, with sporadic populations in the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. It is also reported from northern Mexico in the states of Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, Tamaulipas, and San Luís Potosí, though all Arizona and Mexican records should be considered with caution due to confusion with other similar species.  The species is cultivated as an ornamental in other locations.
The species prefers well-drained, sandy or gravelly soils, mostly in grassland areas. It is one of the shorter species of the genus, rarely over 30 cm (1 foot) tall, spreading horizontally and forming wide clumps. Flowers are showy and bright yellow, often with red markings near the base of the petals. Fruits are narrow, red, juicy and edible.
Several varieties have proposed within the species. More study is needed to determine whether these should continue to be recognized as varieties, elevated to species status, or regarded as mere synonyms.


Opuntia microdasys (angel's-wings, bunny ears cactus, bunny cactus or polka-dot cactus) is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae, native and endemic to central and northern Mexico.


Opuntia microdasys forms a dense shrub 40–60 cm tall, occasionally more, composed of pad-like stems 6–15 cm long and 4–12 cm broad.
Instead of spines it has numerous white or yellow glochids 2–3 mm long in dense clusters. They are barbed and thinner than the finest human hairs, detaching in large numbers upon the slightest touch. If not removed they will cause considerable skin irritation so the plants must be treated with caution.
The Latin specific epithet microdasys means “small and hairy”.
The yellow flowers appear only rarely. Despite this, it is a very popular cactus in cultivation, partly because of the young plant’s comical resemblance to a rabbit’s head. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.


Native to Mexico, naturalised in Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania. One reason for the success of O. microdasys in desert habitats - at home and as an introduction - is its efficient fog collection ability. The spines and hairs have the perfect structure and microstructure to capture and channel fog.


The very closely related Opuntia rufida differs in having reddish-brown glochids. It occurs further north in northern Mexico, and into western Texas. Some botanists treat the two as a single species.


Opuntia phaeacantha is a species of prickly pear cactus known by the common names tulip prickly pear, Mojave prickly pear, and desert prickly pear found across the southwestern United States, lower Great Plains, and northern Mexico. The plant forms dense but localized thickets. Several varieties of this particular species occur, and it also hybridizes easily with other prickly pears, making identification sometimes tricky.


Opuntia phaeacantha has a mounding habit of flattened green pads. The pads are protected by clusters of spines. Each cluster bearing 1-4 spines. The spines are brown, reddish-brown, or gray, and often over 3 cm in length. At the base of the spine cluster is a round tuft of easily detached brown bristles called Glochids. Glochids are also present on the fruit. This is the source for the plants common name "prickly pear".
The flowers are bright yellow with a pale green center. Some plants produce yellow flowers with an orange-red center. The edible fruits are red or purple with a pink seedy flesh. The fruit has a mild watermelon or pear flavor. Both the fruit and the fleshy pads provide an important food resource for desert wildlife.
This plant, like other Opuntia species, is attacked by cactus moth.
Older names for this species, and names for old species which are now considered variants of this species, include plateau prickly pear, brown-spined prickly-pear, Mojave prickly pear, and Kingman prickly pear.
The species is widespread, from California south to Mexico and the Southwest United States. There are multiple variations and  perhaps these will be described as varieties or full species some day.


The cactus can be prepared as food in a similar fashion to Opuntia humifusa.


This cactus grows in a wide variety of habitat types, including sagebrush, Ponderosa pine forest, prairie, savanna, shrublands, shrubsteppe, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodland, and scrub. Individual plants tend to thrive in sandy soil. A new plant can grow from a displaced stem segment.


Opuntia polyacantha grows up to 10–30 centimetres (4–12 in) tall. It forms low mats of pads which may be 2–3 m (6+1⁄2–9+7⁄8 ft) wide. Its succulent green pads are oval or circular and reach 27 by 18 cm (10+5⁄8 by 7+1⁄8 in) wide. Its areoles are tipped with woolly brown fibers and glochids. Many of the areoles have spines which are quite variable in size and shape. They may be 0.4 to 18.5 cm (1⁄8 to 7+1⁄4 in) in length, stout or thin, straight or curling, and any of a variety of colors.
Flowers grow from spine-covered stem segments which are shaped like semi-flattened pears. The flowers are 2.5 to 4 cm (1 to 1+5⁄8 in) long and may be yellow, magenta, or red in color (tending to turn pink or orange with age). The fruit is cylindrical, brownish, dry and spiny. The cactus reproduces by seed, by layering, and by resprouting from detached segments. In its natural range it survives throughout an immense range of temperatures, ranging from −46 °C (−50 °F) in the Yukon Territory, Canada, to well above 38 °C (100 °F) in places like Chihuahua, Mexico.
There are many expressions of O. polyacantha and variation is common. Multiple varieties have been proposed. Some are accepted by modern authorities and some require further study.


Native Americans used it as a medicinal plant, with different parts treating various symptoms.
This pricklypear provides food for many types of animals. It provides over half the winter food for the black-tailed prairie dog in one area. Pronghorn antelope eat it, especially after the spines are burned off in wildfires. Ranchers intentionally burn stands of the plant to make it palatable for livestock when little other food is available. It will also grow in waste areas where good forage will not take hold. In fact, an abundance of the cactus indicates land that is poor in quality.
Several insects attack the cactus, including the cactus moth Melitara dentata, the blue cactus borer Olycella subumbrella, and the cactus bug Chelinidea vittiger.
O. polyacantha provided the Lewis and Clark Expedition with opportunity for admiration and more often complaint about the plant.
With the skin and seeds removed, the fruit can be eaten raw or made into candy.


Opuntia robusta, the wheel cactus, nopal tapon, or camuesa,  is a species of cactus in the family Cactaceae. It is native and endemic to central and northern Mexico to within 100 miles (160 km) of the Arizona and New Mexico borders where it grow from 5,000 to 10,000 feet (1,500 to 3,000 m) on rocky slopes, open shrub lands, woodlands and mixed with other cactus and succulents.


Plants are commonly around 1 m (40 in) high, though they may grow to over 3 m (10 ft) high when supported.
The flattened stem segments are fleshy, round and blue-grey in colour. These are up to 30 cm (1 ft) in diameter and have the length of sharp spines up to 5 cm (2 in). Yellow, sessile flowers with a fleshy base are produced on the edges of the upper stem segments. These are followed by barrel-shaped fleshy fruits which are pink or purple and up to 8 cm (3 in) long.
Opuntia robusta has populations that are dioecious, hermaphrodite, or trioecious (containing male, female, and hermaphrodite individuals).


The species was first formally described in 1837 in Enumeratio Diagnostica Cactearum hucusque Cognitarum. It has naturalised in the states of South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria in Australia.


Opuntia stricta is a species of large cactus that is endemic to the subtropical and tropical coastal areas of the Americas, especially around the Caribbean. Common names include  erect prickly pear and nopal estricto (Spanish). The first description as Cactus strictus was published in 1803 by Adrian Hardy Haworth. In 1812 he moved the species to the genus Opuntia.


It is a shrubby, erect plant, extending lengthwise to somewhat upright and reach heights of growth up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in height, producing lemon yellow flowers in the spring and summer, followed by purplish-red fruits. It is quick to colonize hot, open environments with sandy soils. The bald, flattened, ovate to inverted egg-shaped, tapered at the base shoot sections are blue-green. They are 25 to 64 cm (10 to 25 inches) long and 15 to 64 cm (6 to 25 inches) inches wide. The brownish areoles are far apart  leaving most of the epidermis, with often one or more yellowish spines, at least near the edges and towards the apex. They carry striking, yellow glochids that are 2 to 6 mm (0.079 to 0.236 inches) long. The 1 to 5 awl-shaped spur is flattened, provided with a light barb at the top thorns are yellow. They are perpendicular to the surface of the shoots and are 1.3 to 12.7 cm (0.5 to 5 inches) long.
The yellow to yellowish orange flowers, which are solitary and formed by numerous membranous parts, reach a length of 13 to 15 cm (5 to 6 inches) and a diameter of 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches). The flowers are ephemeral and melliferous. The purple-red, smooth fruits are inverted-egg-shaped and tapered at the base. They are 6.4 to 8.9 cm (2.5 to 3.5 inches) inches long and covered with plenty of glochids and are more or less pyriform, always purple in color, 4 to 6 cm (1.6 to 2.4 inches) in length and contain from 60 to 180 seeds (which may remain viable for more than 10 years), yellow to light brown, incorporated into the fruit pulp. As fruits are appreciated by birds and mammals, their seeds are dispersed by animals. The mucilage inside the leaves is used to treat burns and abscesses. It is edible in the same way as fruits.


Opuntia stricta occurs naturally in coastal beach scrub and sandy coastal environments in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and along the Gulf Coast in Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama in the United States, as well as Bermuda, the Caribbean, eastern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America (in Venezuela and Ecuador). O. stricta is a major component in the understory of Bahamian dry forests in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.


Opuntia stricta has been introduced to other parts of the world, including Africa (including Madagascar), Australia and southern Asia. O. stricta is considered an invasive species in South Africa and Kenya. In Australia it has been the subject of one of the first effective biological control exercises using the moth Cactoblastis cactorum. It was declared a Weed of National Significance by the Australian Weeds Committee in April 2012, but continues to be kept under control by the use of the Cactoblastis moth and a cochineal insect, Dactylopius opuntiae.
In Sri Lanka it has overgrown a 30 kilometres (20 mi) long coastal area between Hambantota and Yala National Park, especially in Bundala National Park, a Ramsar wetland site. It has overgrown several hundreds of hectares  (acres) of sand dune areas and adjoining scrub forests and pasture lands. Some areas are so densely covered that they are completely inaccessible for humans and animals. The seeds are spread by macaque monkeys, and perhaps other animals and birds, that eat the large fruits. It is also spread by people cutting down the cactus but leaving the cuttings, which then re-sprout where they have fallen. No control measures have been carried out except some costly manual removal of about 10 hectares (25 acres) on the dunes near Bundala village. The cactus is due to invade Yala National Park.
The opposite problem has been encountered in Texas, where Cactoblastis cactorum was first found in Brazoria County in 2017. This species of moth is highly destructive to this (and other) species of cactus native to the southern United States and northern Mexico.


Orchis anthropophora (formerly Aceras anthropophorum), the man orchid, is a European species of orchid whose flowers resemble a human figure. The head is formed by the petals and sepals, and the suspended torso and limbs by the lobes of the labellum. It usually grows in calcareous grassland.


The man orchid is a herbaceous perennial, growing to a height of 20 to 40 cm (7.9 to 16 in). A basal rosette of 5 cm (2.0 in) lanceolate leaves develops from a tuber 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter, and between April and June a central flower spike is produced bearing up to fifty small, stemless flowers – the flowers vary from greenish, with a yellow-green labellum, to green, streaked and marked with purple.


Orchis anthropophora favours moderately sunny meadows on well-drained, often calcareous soil. It is to be found around the Mediterranean area, and in central and western Europe as far north as southern England. It also grows in alpine areas, but not at high altitude.
It is native to Great Britain, central Europe (Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland), southwestern Europe (the Balearic Islands, Corsica, France, Portugal, Sardinia, and Spain), southeastern Europe (Albania, Greece, Italy, Crete, Sicily, and countries of the former Yugoslavia), northern Africa (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia), and western Asia (Cyprus, East Aegean Islands, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey).


Orchis mascula is a perennial herbaceous plant with stems up to 50–60 centimetres (20–24 in) high, green at the base and purple on the apex. The root system consists of two tubers, rounded or ellipsoid. The leaves, grouped at the base of the stem, are oblong-lanceolate, pale green, sometimes with brownish-purple speckles. The inflorescence is 7.5–12.5 centimetres (3–5 in) long and it is composed of 6 to 20 flowers gathered in dense cylindrical spikes. The flower size is about 2.5 centimetres (1 in) and the color varies from pinkish-purple to purple. The lateral sepals are ovate-lanceolate and erect, the median one, together with the petals, is smaller and cover the gynostegium. The labellum is three-lobed and convex, with crenulated margins and the basal part clearer and dotted with purple-brown spots. The spur is cylindrical or clavate, horizontal or ascending. The gynostegium is short, with reddish-green anthers. It blooms from April to June.


This orchid is devoid of nectar and attracts pollinating insects (bees and wasps of the genera Apis, Bombus, Eucera, Andrena, Psithyrus and Xylocopa, and sometimes beetles) with the appearance of its flower which mimics other species.
Orchids in the genus Orchis form mycorrhizal partnerships mainly with fungi in the family Tulasnellaceae. Orchis mascula has been suggested to have only one mycorrhizal partner, in the Tulasnellaceae.


The species is widespread across Europe, from Portugal to the Caucasus (Ireland, Great Britain, The Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, most of Russia), in northwest Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco) and in the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq) up to Iran. (Codes)
It grows in a variety of habitats, from meadows to mountain pastures and woods, in full sun or shady areas, from sea level to 2,500 metres (8,000 ft) altitude.


The specific epithet is derived from the Latin masculus, meaning "male" or "virile"; this could refer to the robust aspect of this species, or to the shape of the two tubers, which resemble testicles.


As of June 2014, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognizes five subspecies:
Orchis mascula subsp. ichnusae Corrias
Orchis mascula subsp. laxifloriformis Rivas Goday & B.Rodr. (including O. langei, O. mascula subsp. hispanica)
Orchis mascula subsp. mascula (including O. mascula subsp. pinetorum)
Orchis mascula subsp. scopulorum (Summerh.) H.Sund. ex H.Kretzschmar, Eccarius & H.Dietr.
Orchis mascula subsp. speciosa (Mutel) Hegi


Orchidactyla kromayeri (M.Schulze) Borsos & Soó 1966
Orchidactyla pentecostalis (Wettst. & Sennholz) Borsos & Soó 1966
Orchidactyla speciosissima (Wettst. & Sennholz) Borsos & Soó 1966
Orchis brevicornis var. fallax De Not. 1844
Orchis cochleata Fleischm. & M.Schulze 1902
Orchis compressiflora Stokes 1812
Orchis fallax (De Not.) Willk. in Willk. & J.M.C.Lange 1861
Orchis glaucophylla A.Kern. 1864
Orchis kromayeri M.Schulze 1904
Orchis mascula f. longifolia Landwehr 1977
Orchis mascula subsp. occidentalis O.Schwarz 1949
Orchis mascula subsp. signifera (Vest) Soó 1927
Orchis mascula subsp. tenera (Landwehr) Del Prete 1999
Orchis mascula var. acutiflora W.D.J.Koch 1837
Orchis mascula var. bicolor Balayer 1986
Orchis mascula var. fallax E.G.Camus 1889
Orchis mascula var. hostii Patze, E.Mey. & Elkan 1848
Orchis mascula var. maritzii J.A.Guim. 1887
Orchis mascula var. monsignatica Font Quer 1928
Orchis mascula var. obtusiflora W.D.J.Koch 1837
Orchis mascula var. speciosa Mutel 1836
Orchis mascula var. tenera Landwehr 1977
Orchis monsignatica (Font Quer) Rivas Goday 1941
Orchis morio f. mascula L. 1753
Orchis morio var. mascula L. 1753 (basionym)
Orchis obtusa Schur 1866
Orchis obtusiflora Schur 1853
Orchis olivetorum Gren. ex Nyman 1882
Orchis ovalis F.W.Schmidt 1791
Orchis parreissii C.Presl 1845
Orchis patens var. fallax (De Not.) Rchb.f. 1851
Orchis pentecostalis Wettst. & Sennholz 1889
Orchis signifera Vest 1824
Orchis speciosa Host 1831
Orchis speciosissima Wettst. & Sennholz 1889
Orchis stabiana Tenore 1833
Orchis tenera (Landwehr) Kreutz 1991
Orchis untchji M.Schulze 1907
Orchis vernalis Salisbury 1796
Orchis wanjkovii E.Wulff 1930
Orchis wilmsii K.Richt. 1890


A flour called salep or sachlav is made of the ground tubers of this or some other species of orchids. It contains a nutritious starch-like polysaccharide called glucomannan. In some magical traditions, its root is called Adam and Eve Root. It is said that witches used tubers of this orchid in love potions.


It is referred to as "long purple" by Gertrude in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Gertrude: "There with fantastic garlands did she come Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples, that liberal shepherds give a grosser name, but our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them;". Among other common names it has been called 'Gethsemane' https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01473.x#b29. (Foley and Clarke 2005, Orchids of the British Isles).


Orchis militaris, the military orchid, is a species of orchid native to Europe.  It is the type species of the genus Orchis.


This plant grows to a height of 20 to 50 cm with a robust stem with rather drawn up oblong basal leaves. The inflorescence forms a purplish dense cone consisting of from 10 to 40 flowers. In each flower the sepals and side petals are gathered together to form a  pointed "helmet" (whence it gets its name), a lilac colour outside and a veined purple colour inside. The central tongue finishes in two lobes separated by a tooth.
Depending on the location, it flowers from April to June.


Orchis militaris was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Orchis militaris Poir.. is a synonym of Orchis italica. Two subspecies are recognized:
Orchis militaris subsp. militaris – widespread in Eurasia, from Britain to Mongolia
Orchis militaris subsp. stevenii (Rchb.f.) B.Baumann, H.Baumann, R.Lorenz & Ruedi Peter – Iran, Crimea, North Caucasus, the Transcaucasus, Turkey


It is well distributed around Europe, reaching as far north as southern Sweden, but rather rare in the Mediterranean areas. It extends east across the Palearctic to Siberia. It prefers full light on a dry calcareous substrate, for example, unfertilized lawns, meadows, edges and light woods up to 2000 m in altitude.
It is extremely rare in Britain and a protected species, occurring only at the Rex Graham nature reserve in Suffolk and the Buckinghamshire Chilterns.


Orchis militaris contains the nutritious polysaccharide glucomannan, and is one of the original species of orchid whose ground-up roots are used to make the drink salep.


Orchinol is a phenanthrenoid that can be isolated from infected O. militaris.


The crescent-chested warbler (Oreothlypis superciliosa) is a small New World warbler. It is common throughout its montane range, from northern Mexico to northern Nicaragua. It shows an affinity for oaks.
The crescent-chested warbler is superficially similar to both the northern parula and the tropical parula, with yellow underparts, a gray head, and a greenish back, but neither of these has a bold white eyebrow. Adult males have a discrete chestnut crescent on the breast, which is less prominent and sometimes lacking in females and young birds.


These monogamous, solitary birds become more gregarious in winter, joining mixed-species flocks to feed (mostly insects, but sometimes fruits and berries in the middle to upper levels of trees). It jumps from twigs and foliage, picking food from the underside of leaves, and hanging beneath leaves in a fashion similar to chickadees to check surfaces for prey.
Crescent-chested warblers make their nests atop grassy tussocks or sheltered by a hill or bank near the ground. Usually they will have 1 - 2 broods a year. The female is believed to build the nest without help from the male, gathering moss, grass, conifer needles, and fine materials to line the nest. She will then lay approximately three plain white eggs. Incubation is estimated to last 12 – 14 days by the female. The chicks are altricial and are also brooded by the female, and fed by both sexes. The young stay in the nest for an estimated 8–10 days.


Oreta rosea, the rose hooktip moth, is a moth in the family Drepanidae. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded across boreal Canada to eastern North America. In the north, the range extends to northern Alberta, northern Manitoba and Newfoundland. It is also found east of the Great Plains as far south as Florida and eastern Texas. The habitat consists of moist temperate hardwood forests.
The wingspan is 25–34 mm. Typical adults are yellow with delicate pink in broad bands. The postmedial line on the forewings angles back sharply toward the costa below the apex. The postmedial line of the hindwings is wavy. Form irrorata is brown or brownish purple with dark lines. Adults are on wing from May to September in two generations per year.
The larvae feed on various hardwood species, including Betula and Viburnum species. The larvae are orange to brown. The head has two thorny projections on either side. Larvae can be found from July to October.


Orgyia definita, the definite tussock moth or definite-marked tussock moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It was first described by Alpheus Spring Packard in 1865. The species is found in eastern North America from Minnesota to New Brunswick and south to South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The wingspan is about 30 mm for males; females are wingless. Adult males are brown with a darker pattern and some white markings.
The larvae feed on Salix, Quercus, Tilia, Ulmus, Betula, Acer rubrum, and Hamamelis virginiana. They have a yellow head, prothoracic plate and dorsal glands. The body is covered in whitish hairs and the verrucae (wart-like structures on the body) are pale yellow.


Orgyia detrita, the fir tussock moth or live oak tussock moth, is a tussock moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville in 1831. It is found in North America.
The MONA or Hodges number for Orgyia detrita is 8313.


Orgyia postica, the cocoa tussock moth or hevea tussock moth, is a species of moth of the subfamily Lymantriinae of family Erebidae found from the Oriental tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Borneo, Java, New Guinea and Taiwan. It was described by Francis Walker in 1855.


The wingspan is 20–30 mm for males. In the male, the head, thorax, and abdomen are brownish. Forewings are brown with an indistinct oblique sub-basal line. Waved antemedial and postmedial lines approach each other at the lower angle of the cell. The area between them is slightly tinged with bluish grey and with a waved dark line edged with white on each side of the discocellulars. Two indistinct waved submarginal lines are present. The apex is slightly tinged with grey and with some subapical dark streaks. Hindwings are dark brown. The female is wingless.
Larvae are yellowish, clothed sparsely with brown hair. One dorsal and two lateral brown bands are seen. Paired tufts of hair are on the first and eleventh somites projecting forward and backward. Lateral tufts of grey hair project from the fourth and fifth somites. Dorsal tufts of yellow hair are on the fourth to seventh somites. The head is red. the pupa is stout; in males, it is glossy black, with numerous short, small tufts of hairs. Eggs are pillbox shaped, and pale whitish brown with a darker ring encircling a depressed top.


Adult males are on wing year round. The name Orgyia is because the larvae have been recorded on a wide range of species, including Buchanania, Mangifera, Durio, Ochroma, Casuarina, Terminalia, Shorea, Hevea, Ricinus, Pelargonium, Cinnamomum, Acacia, Albizia, Caesalpinia, Cajanus, Cassia, Dalbergia, Erythrina, Pithecellobium, Pterocarpus, Sesbania, Xylia, Lagerstroemia, Eucalyptus, Tristania, Zizyphus, Malus, Coffea, Citrus, Santalum, Dimocarpus, Litchi, Nephelium, Theobroma, Camellia, Grewia, and Tectona. The head, legs, and prolegs are pale red. The body is longitudinally banded in dark brown and pale yellow. The four dorsal brushes are pale yellow.
The parasitoid wasps of Telenomus are known to attacks the eggs of this moth.


The western tussock moth, Orgyia vetusta, formerly Hemerocampa vetusta, is a moth found in the Pacific States and British Columbia, as well as an isolated population in Boise County, Idaho. The species is dimorphic; the females are flightless. This species has also been seen in gulf coast states such as Louisiana.


Orienthella trilineata, common name three-lined aeolid, is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine heterobranch mollusc in the family Flabellinidae.


This species was described from Nanoose Bay, Regional District of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Orienthella trilineata is a seasonally abundant aeolid ranging from Baja California, Mexico to Alaska.


This species feeds on hydroids, especially Tubularia spp. and Eudendrium californicum.


Orienthella trilineata is a flabellinid nudibranch with a translucent body and three longitudinal white lines on the back and sides. The line down the middle of the back passes between the rhinophores where it splits and continues to the tips of the oral tentacles. The rhinophores are perfoliate and coloured white at the base but orange in the outer third. The digestive gland is either red or orange in colour. Maximum length is about 35mm.


Orientus ishidae, common name Japanese leafhopper or Mosaic leafhopper, is a species of leafhoppers belonging to the family Cicadellidae subfamily Deltocephalinae.


The adults reach 4.5–6.5 millimetres (0.18–0.26 in) of length. This leafhopper shows a distinctive mosaic-like pattern on the forewings and an orange band between the eyes. Orientus ishidae is associated with willow (Salix species), hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) and with many woody plants and deciduous trees. It may cause serious leaf damages to several tree species and is implicated as a vector of the phytoplasmic flavescence dorée (FD) disease in vineyards. Adults can be found from June to October.
The nymphs are strongly coloured, the patterning is variable. They often adopt a tail-up posture in response to danger, as seen on the left.


This species is endemic to the East Palearctic realm and it is present in the Nearctic realm and the Oriental realm. It has been introduced in United Kingdom (first reported in Peckham, 2011), Germany, Italy, Switzerland and in several other European countries.


The black-naped oriole (Oriolus chinensis) is a passerine bird in the oriole family that is found in many parts of Asia. There are several distinctive populations within the wide distribution range of this species and in the past the slender-billed oriole (Oriolus tenuirostris) was included as a subspecies. Unlike the Indian golden oriole which only has a short and narrow eye-stripe, the black-naped oriole has the stripe broadening and joining at the back of the neck. Males and females are very similar although the wing lining of the female is more greenish. The bill is pink and is stouter than in the golden oriole.


In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the black-naped oriole in his Ornithologie based on a specimen that he mistakenly believed had been collected in the former French colony of Cochinchina in what is now southern Vietnam. He used the French name Le loriot de la Cochinchine and the Latin Oriolus Cochinsinensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the black-naped oriole. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the current binomial name Oriolus chinensis and cited Brisson's work. The type location was subsequently corrected to Manila in the Philippines.
The evolutionary history of this group of orioles is complex and there may be more cryptic species within the group. The subspecies are very closely related and the group forms a clade in which the Eurasian oriole and Indian golden oriole are also nested.


The black-naped oriole is medium-sized and overall golden with a strong pinkish bill and a broad black mask and nape. The adult male has the central tail feathers tipped yellow and the lateral ones are more broadly yellow. The female has the mantle colour more greenish or olive. The juvenile has a streaked underside. The nestling has dull greenish with brown streaks. The head and nape are more yellowish and the undertail coverts are yellow. Several variations exist in the populations that have been separated as subspecies.
The subspecies in the Andamans, O. c. andamanensis has all black wings while O. c. macrourus of the Nicobars has a very broad nape band so that only the top of the head is yellow. The wings are all black with a yellow primary covert patch. The calls of the Andaman and the Nicobar subspecies are said to be quite different, the latter having a more modulated call note. In the Southeast Asian populations some geographic trends include a reduction of yellow on the forehead and a decreased brightness in the yellow plumage from north to south. Females from southern populations are more greenish on the back and tail and there are no yellow spots on the tips of the secondaries as in northern populations.
The usual call is a nasal niee or myaa and the song (diffusus) is a fluty iwee wee wee-leeow. They have a dipping flight.


Subspecies diffusus breeds in eastern Siberia, Ussuriland, northeastern China, Korea, Japan and northern Vietnam and is widespread across India during winter, mainly in the northeastern parts and in the peninsular region and also found in Bangladesh. The population in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are resident. In winter, populations breeding in eastern Asia spend the winter in the tropical areas of Southeast Asia such as Thailand and Myanmar. Subspecies diffusus is an uncommon migrant in many parts of South India and very rare migrant to Sri Lanka and are most regularly seen in the Western Ghats. In Singapore they are believed to have established as breeders only in the 1920s and are today common even within gardens in the city. In the 1880s they were considered rare. At the present time, orioles are fairly common in Singapore.
The black-naped oriole is found in forests, gardens and plantations. It feeds on berries and insects in the canopy.


Black-naped orioles have been recorded to feed on a range of berries including Trema orientalis, Ficus and others apart from insects. It has been suggested that they may have aided in the dispersal of Ficus species into the island of Krakatoa where they were also among the early pioneer species. In India it has been noted to take nectar from large flowers such as those of Salmalia and Erythrina. They can sometimes be nest predators on smaller birds. The breeding season is April to June (January–March in the Nicobars) and the nest is a deep cup in a fork of a tree. The eggs, two to three, are salmon pink with reddish spots and darker blotches The nests are often built in the vicinity of the nest of a black drongo. Two or three nests may be built by the female and one is finally chosen for laying eggs. Males may sometimes sit beside the unused nests. Incubation is by the female alone and the eggs hatch after 14 to 16 days and the chicks fledge after another two weeks. Females stay closer to the nest, taking part in nest sanitation by removal of fecal sacs, driving away predators and feeding the young. The males take a more active role in feeding and guarding. Eurasian tree sparrows and black bulbuls may sometimes use abandoned nests. Nest predators include crows, treepies and hawks. In many parts of Southeast Asia, they are trapped and sold in the bird trade.


The Eurasian golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus) also called golden oriole, is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer migrant in Europe and Palearctic and spends the winter season in central and southern Africa.
Golden orioles have an extremely large range with large populations that are apparently stable. Therefore, they are evaluated as least concern by BirdLife International.


The Eurasian golden oriole was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae and given the binomial name Coracias oriolus.
The Eurasian golden oriole and the Indian golden oriole were formerly considered as conspecific, but in 2005 they were treated as separate species by the ornithologists Pamela Rasmussen and John Anderton, in the first edition of their Birds of South Asia. Support for this split was provided by a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010, and most ornithologists now treat the Indian golden oriole as a separate species. Alternate names for the Eurasian golden oriole include the European golden oriole and western Eurasian golden oriole. The species is monotypic.


The breeding range of this species spans from western Europe and Scandinavia east to China. They winter in central and southern Africa. They generally migrate during the night, but may travel during the day in the spring migration. During the autumn migration they migrate via the Eastern Mediterranean where they feed on fruit; they are often considered a pest in this region because of this.
Though not resident, Eurasian golden orioles are regularly recorded as summer passage migrant in Great Britain, and occur in small numbers on the South Coast of England and in East Anglia. Approximately 85 birds are recorded in Great Britain annually.
The Eurasian golden oriole inhabits a range of habitats. In Western Europe they prefer open broadleaf forests and plantations, copses, riverine forest, orchards, large gardens; in Eastern Europe they may inhabit more continuous forest as well as mixed or coniferous forests. They generally avoid treeless habitats but may forage there. In their wintering habitat they are found in semi-arid to humid woodland, tall forests, riverine forest, woodland/savanna mosaic and savanna.


Eurasian golden orioles may delay breeding until they are 2 or 3 years of age. Males usually arrive at breeding area several days before the females. The fidelity to a territory or even to a specific nest site suggests that the pair-bond may continue from one breeding season to the next. The nest is placed high in a tree towards the edge of the crown. The deep cup-shaped nest is suspended below a horizontal fork of thin branches. It is built by the female, but the male will sometimes gather some of the material. The nest is held in place by plant fibres up to 40 cm (16 in) in length and lined with fine grass, feathers and wool. The clutch is usually between 3 and 5 eggs. These are laid at daily intervals early in the morning. The eggs are on average 30.4 mm × 21.3 mm (1.20 in × 0.84 in) with a calculated weight of 7.3 g (0.26 oz). They can be white, cream or very pale pink and are decorated with black marks which are sometimes concentrated at the larger end. The eggs are mainly incubated by the female but the male will incubate for short periods to allow the female to feed. The eggs hatch after 16–17 days. The young are fed by both parents but are mostly brooded by the female. The young fledge after 16–17 days. The clutch is only rarely lost to predators as the parents vigorously defend their nest.
The greatest recorded age for a Eurasian golden oriole is 10 years and 1 month for a male that was ringed in Lincolnshire in 1986 and seen alive in Cambridgeshire in 1996.


They feed on insects and fruit, using their bills to pick insects out of crevices.


Since 1987, the Golden Oriole Group and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have been engaged in protecting known Eurasian golden oriole breeding sites in East Anglia.


Cramp, Stanley; Perrins, C.M., eds. (1993). "Oriolus oriolus Golden oriole". Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. VII: Flycatchers to Strikes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 415–433. ISBN 978-0-19-857510-8.


The black-hooded oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) is a member of the oriole family of passerine birds and is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia.
It is a bird of open woodland and cultivation. The nest is built in a tree, and contains two eggs. Its food is insects and fruit, especially figs, found in the tree canopies where they spend much of their time.


The black-hooded oriole was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Coracias xanthornus. Linnaeus was confused by the similar appearance of the unrelated New World orioles and the Old World orioles. In his entry for Coracias xanthornus he cited descriptions of birds occurring in Jamaica by Mark Catesby and Patrick Browne as well as an illustration by George Edwards of a bird occurring in Bengal. Linnaeus specified the habitat as "America" but Bengal is now the recognised type location. Also in the 10th edition Linnaeus listed Sturnus luteolus among the starlings and cited another illustration by Edwards. He renamed this species as Oriolus melanocephalus in the 12th edition of 1766. All three binomial names are now believed to refer to the black-hooded oriole.
The current genus Oriolus was erected by Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. The name is from Medieval Latin oryolus for the Eurasian golden oriole which in turn comes from the Latin word aureolus for "golden". The specific epithet xanthornus is from the Ancient Greek xanthos "yellow" and ornis "bird".
Alternate names for the black-hooded oriole include the Asian black-headed oriole, black-headed oriole, Indian black-headed oriole and Oriental black-headed oriole.


Five subspecies are recognized:
O. x. xanthornus - (Linnaeus, 1758): Found from northern India to northern Malay Peninsula and Indochina
O. x. maderaspatanus - Franklin, 1831: Originally described as a separate species. Found in central and southern India
O. x. ceylonensis - Bonaparte, 1850: Originally described as a separate species. Found in Sri Lanka
O. x. reubeni - Abdulali, 1977: Found on the Andaman Islands
O. x. tanakae - Kuroda, 1925: Found on north-eastern Borneo


The male is striking, with the typical oriole black and yellow colouration. The plumage is predominantly yellow, with a solid black hood, and black also in the wings and tail centre.
The female black-hooded oriole is a drabber bird with greenish underparts, but still has the black hood. Young birds are like the female, but have dark streaking on the underparts, and their hood is not solidly black, especially on the throat.
The black head of this species is an obvious distinction from the Indian golden oriole, which is a summer visitor to northern India. Orioles can be shy, and even the male may be difficult to see in the dappled yellow and green leaves of the canopy.
The black-hooded oriole's flight is somewhat like a thrush, strong and direct with some shallow dips over longer distances.
While foraging the species uses foliage-gleening, wood-gleening, or sallying methods.


The black-hooded oriole lives in common contact with humans in rural and urban India.
A folk tale from Bengal has it that an unfortunate girl of a merchant family was abused and tortured by her mother-in-law. Troubled by various incidents she smeared herself with turmeric paste and covered herself with a sooty earthen pot and killed herself. A goddess resurrected her as a black hooded oriole and a Bengali name for the bird is "benebou" or merchant's wife while another name is "haldi pakhi" or turmeric bird.


The striped sparrow (Oriturus superciliosus) is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is monotypic within the genus Oriturus.
It is endemic to Mexico where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and temperate grassland.


Ornithogalum umbellatum, the garden star-of-Bethlehem, grass lily, nap-at-noon, or eleven-o'clock lady, a species of the genus Ornithogalum, is a perennial bulbous flowering plant in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). O. umbellatum is a relatively short plant, occurring in tufts of basal linear leaves, producing conspicuous white flowers, in a stellate pattern, in mid to late spring. The flowers open late in the day (hence some of its common names), but when closed have a green stripe on the outside. It is native throughout most of southern and central Europe, and north-western Africa. O. umbellatum is often grown as a garden ornamental, but in North America and other areas it has escaped cultivation and can be found in many areas, where it may become an invasive noxious weed. Parts of the plant are considered poisonous, but are used in some regional cuisines. Essences are also sold as patent remedies. O. umbellatum has been depicted in art by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, and folklore has suggested it originally grew from fragments of the star of Bethlehem, hence its horticultural name.


O. umbellatum is a perennial herbaceous bulbous plant (geophyte), dying back after flowering, to  an underground storage bulb. The following year, it regrows from the often shallow rooted bulbs, which are ovoid with a membranous coat, 15–25 millimetres (0.6–1.0 in) long and 18–32 mm (0.7–1.3 in) in diameter. The bulbs form multiple leaf-bearing bulbils that soon separate but remain close by. Initially the plant forms 6–10 basal leaves, that arise in tufts from the bulbs. The leaves are grooved (canaliculate), smooth (glabrous) and linear with a white to light green linear midrib on the upper surface, and grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 8 mm (0.3 in) broad.
O. umbellatum is scapose, with a glabrous flower stem (scape) that emerges from the leaf tufts later and is about 10–30 cm (4–12 in) in height, tapering at its tip.
The inflorescence bears 6–20 flat star shaped flowers on ascending stems (pedicels) (3–3.5 cm (1.2–1.4 in)) associated with membranaceous leaflets (bracts) (2.5–3 cm (0.98–1.18 in)) in an open branching umbrella (umbel) shaped terminal cluster, described as a corymbose raceme. The petal-like perianth is radially symmetric (actinomorphic), which is 1.5–2 centimetres (0.6–0.8 in) in diameter, consists of six lanceolate tepals which are white with a green stripe on the underside (outside), 15 mm (0.59 in) in length and 5 mm (0.20 in) wide. From the outside the closed flower appears green with white margins.
The reproductive parts consist of both male (androecium) and female (gynoecium) parts (hermaphrodite). The androecium has six yellow-brown stamens that are free of the perianth and form two groups, each of about 5–8 millimetres (0.2–0.3 in), with filaments that are simple and flattened and oblong anthers that are 2–4 millimetres (0.079–0.157 in). The gynoecium has a single pistil with a superior (i. e. above the floral parts) ovary that is ovoid to obovoid, 3–4 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in), and longer than the style that extends above it. The fruit is a capsule which is oblong-ovoid with 3 sides and 6 ribs. Within it, each locule contains many seeds with a black coat of phytomelan (see Floral diagram). The species is polyploid (having more than two sets of chromosomes).


Ornithogalum umbellatum has been known and described for a long time, according to some authors, as far back as Dioscorides in the first century. In 16th-century England, William Turner (1562) mentions it. In Henry Lyte's 1586 New Herbal (a translation into English of Dodoens' 1554 Cruydeboeck), reference is made to an Ornithogalum as the White Field Onion. John Gerard, in his Herball of 1597, describes Ornithogalum as the "star of Bethlem". The species known today as Ornithogalum umbellatum was first formally described by Linnaeus (1753), who is the botanical authority for the species (L.). O. umbellatum is the type species of the genus Ornithogalum, which contains about 50 species. The lectotype (reference specimen) was established by Stearn in 1983.


The species epithet reflects the flower formation as an umbel. The plant's many common names include garden star-of-Bethlehem, sleepydick, nap-at-noon, grass lily, summer snowflake, snowdrop, starflower, bird's milk, chinkerichee, ten-o'clock lady, eleven-o'clock lady, Bath asparagus, and star of Hungary. The references to the time of day reflect the opening times of the flowers, opening late and closing at night or in cloudy conditions. The star names indicate the arrangement of the petals and bird's milk is a literal translation of ornithogalum. It has also been called dove's dung, equating it with a plant described in the bible.  The name star-of-Bethlehem is shared by a number of species of Ornithogalum, due to the white stellate flowers, and the folklore relating the flower to the biblical star-of-Bethlehem (see In popular culture).