Bee & Spider Orchids

Orchid Family - Orchidaceae

Ashy Bee Orchid Ophrys fusca ssp. cinereophila

Native from southern Greece and Turkey to Cyprus and the Levant. Speculum rather dull, blue-grey; underside of labellum greenish.


Flowers	Flower	Flower	Labellum underside

Rainbow Bee Orchid Ophrys fusca ssp. iricolor

Native to the Mediterranean Region, including many of the islands, the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey and the Middle East. Speculum bright, bluish; underside of labellum red tinted.


Flowers	Flowers	Flowers	Flower

Flower	Flower	Flower	Labellum underside

Yellow Bee Orchid Ophrys lutea

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region. Plants on Lesvos are subspecies galilaea which occurs scattered throughout the entire Mediterranean Region, becoming more frequent in the eastern part of the area.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers	Flowers

Flowers	Flowers	Flower	Flower

Mirror Orchid Ophrys speculum

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region.


Flowers	Flower	Flower	Flower

Sawfly Orchid Ophrys tenthredinifera

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region.


Habit	Flower	Flower	Flower

Flower	Flower

Bumblebee Orchid Ophrys bombyliflora

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region from Macaronesia to Turkey.


Flowers	Flower	Flower	Flower

Common Bee Orchid Ophrys apifera

Widespread and common throughout most of western and southern Europe, becoming more local in North-west Africa and eastwards to Turkey and the Middle East.


Habit	Habit	Flower	Flower

Flower	Flower	Leaf rosette	Old seed capsule

Common Woodcock Orchid Ophrys scolopax ssp. scolopax

Native patchily through the Mediterranean Region to the Caucasus, most commonly in the west of its range. Flowers with labellum 6-13mm long and appendage 1.5-2mm long.


Flowers	Flower	Flower	Flower

Leaf

Horned Woodcock Orchid Ophrys scolopax ssp. cornuta

(Ophrys oestrifera) Native patchily through the Mediterranean Region to the Caucasus, most commonly in Greece. Differs from Common Woodcock Orchid most notably in the long, Bullhorn-like extensions at the sides of the labellum.


Flower	Flower	Flower	Flower

Flower

Tiny Woodcock Orchid Ophrys scolopax ssp. minutula

Recorded from Lesvos, Samos and probably Rhodos. Flowers with labellum 6.5-9mm long. Orchids with obviously very small flowers (but otherwise rather variable in colour) occur on some of the eastern Aegean islands and have variously been considered by different authors as either a species, or a subspecies or variety of Common Woodcock Orchid. At present, major world taxonomies such as that provided by Plants of the World Online, do not recognise this form at all and place it within O. scolopax subsp. scolopax.