Vorige Art/previous species (Left arrowball from Animation City)   Early Ophrys araneola s.l. near Naples   Nächste Art/next species (Right arrowball from Animation City)

In the coastal pine forest northwest of Naples, in which I found Ophrys tyrrhena, these small flowered Ophrys are growing, too, which are already in flower in middle of march.

If the orchids wouldn't be much earlier in flower than Ophrys tommasinii, which has been described from the northern Croatia in April 1851, one could regard it as this species. As for Ophrys tommasinii the stigmatic head is rather wide. But according to HERTEL (Jour.Eur.Orch.34(3)) Ophrys tommasinii is not in flower before middle of april in Istria, so an identity seems improbable.

Click for bigger images Click for bigger images
Early Ophrys araneola s.l. near Naples
I Naples 16.3.02
  
 
left arrowball, from Animation City       Start page       Restore frame set       right arrowball, from Animation City Rev: 6-Oct-2002