Mindo Full Day

Orchids or Orchidaceae are probably one of the most extensive families of plants, they are distinguished by the complexity of their flowers and the beauty that they can have. Orchids inhabit almost every corner of the planet, they're in all the climates and on all the continents around the world (except for the polar regions and arid deserts). Ecuador, declared since 2013 as "Country of Orchids", has four of the five existing subfamilies worldwide, which means 4,032 of the species that have been classified and published as far, and of which 1,714 species are endemic.

It's one of the smallest birds known in the animal kingdom and they are the only ones that can fly in all directions: right, left, forward and backward. Its size ranges from 5 to 20 centimeters high, and its weight is around two grams, it has a long and narrow beak and a proboscis-shaped tongue. They feed on the nectar of flowers. Hummingbirds cannot walk due to their short and weak legs; however, they use them for two activities: perching on tree branches or solid surfaces to rest or sleep, and scratching.

Lepidoptera, commonly known as butterflies, are a group of insects that throughout their lives undergo a series of complex transformations known as metamorphosis, whose phases are embryo, larva, pupa and imago. They have a pair of long antennae, compound eyes, six legs, two wings, and a body divided into three parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. Their mouth is shaped like a tube that allows them to suck the nutrients from the plants to feed through a long tongue that is rolled upon itself and is called a spirit tube. The common habitat of these animals is tropical regions with warm climates all or almost all year round and abundant vegetation, however, they are distributed in most of the planet's continents, except Antarctica. Around 24,000 species of butterflies have been described in the world to date, and of these, 4,000 have been recorded in Ecuador, of which 200 species are endemic.