Myrmechila is a small genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 from the orchid family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Orchidaceae

Orchidaceae

The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...

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The name is derived from the Greek words myrmex (ant) and cheilos (lip), referring to the arrangement of the lip

Labellum

Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...

 calli.

This genus of terrestrial tuberous plants is indigenous to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, where it is abundant, and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, where it is close to extinction. There are two ovate leaves with conspicuous venation. A large flower grows at the end of an upright stem. They are pollinated by sexual deception and pseudocopulation of specific male thynnine wasp

Wasp

The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...

s from the family Tiphiidae

Tiphiidae

Tiphiidae is a family of large solitary wasps whose larvae are almost universally parasitoids of various beetle larvae, especially those in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea....

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These species used to belong to the genus Chiloglottis, but were transferred in 2005 by David Jones and Mark Clements to Myrmechila on morphological and molecular grounds.

Species

• Myrmechila formicifera (Fitzg.) D.L. Jones & M.A. Clem (E. Australia, presumed extinct in New Zealand): Ant Orchid
• Myrmechila platyptera (D.L. Jones) D.L. Jones & M.A. Clem (New South Wales)
• Myrmechila trapeziformis (Fitzg.) D.L. Jones & M.A. Clem (New South Wales; almost extinct in New Zealand): Broadlip Bird Orchid
• Myrmechila trullata (D.L. Jones) D.L.Jones & M.A. Clem (Queensland)
• Myrmechila truncata (D.L. Jones & M.A. Clem.) D.L. Jones & M.A. Clem (Queensland)

Intergeneric hybrid

• Chiloglottis × pescottiana R.S.Rogers (Chiloglottis valida x Myrmechila trapeziformis)