Discovered in Central Africa, the two newly identified orchid species – previously classified as threatened, mainly due to habitat destruction – have helped scientists “better understand how tropical plants interact with their pollinators.”

The study is coordinated by the Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE) of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology at UC. The species (of the genus Rhipidoglossum) were identified through fieldwork, morphological analysis, and geographic distribution data.

“In addition to the discovery, the researchers achieved something unusual: directly observing the interaction with their pollinators, in this case, nocturnal moths, a rarely documented behaviour,” stated UC.

With these observations, they were able to “confirm that the shape of the flowers is intimately adapted to the insects that pollinate them, revealing highly specialised ecological relationships.”

Researchers concluded that tropical biodiversity is not only “richer than previously thought, but also more complex in its ecological interactions,” and that “the lack of data and the pressure on ecosystems make it urgent to continue studying and protecting these species before they disappear.”

CFE doctoral student Arthur Macedo stressed that, “in the great puzzle that is tropical biodiversity, each new sample or record may represent a piece still unknown to science.”

“These ecosystems are among the richest in biodiversity on the planet, but also among the most threatened and with the greatest information gaps,” he warned.

In this context, he considered that studies that combine biological collections, fieldwork, and international collaboration “are essential to understanding this diversity and supporting conservation strategies before many of these species disappear.”

Interactions between crickets and orchid flowers were also recorded, “an extremely rare and poorly documented phenomenon” which “suggests that these insects may play a more relevant ecological role in the pollination of some tropical species than previously thought.”

CFE researcher João Farminhão stated that “the great floral diversity of Rhipidoglossum suggests many unknown interactions.”

“Who knows if crickets might not be the main pollinators of some species in the flora of Tropical Africa?” he questioned.