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Orchidaceae
Early Spider Orchid
Ophrys sphegodes
Deceptive allure.
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Genus
- Ophrys
- Native to
- Europe, Mediterranean
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- tuberous perennial
- Height
- 0.5-1.5 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun to part shade
- Soil
- chalky, well-drained
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 7-9
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- The early spider orchid produces no nectar — its lip precisely mimics the appearance and texture of a female mining bee, and also releases chemical pheromones identical to the bee's sex attractant.
- Male Andrena bees emerge from the ground weeks before females and are tricked into attempting to mate with the flower (pseudocopulation), picking up pollen sacs before flying to another 'female' flower.
- The chemical mimicry is so precise that different Ophrys species target different bee species, and populations on different islands have evolved subtly different pheromone blends tuned to local bee populations.
- The species is one of Britain's rarest orchids, restricted to a handful of chalk and limestone grassland sites in Dorset, Sussex, and Kent, and is considered vulnerable due to scrub encroachment.
- Ophrys orchids set seed far less reliably than orchids with nectar rewards — they compensate by living for decades as individual plants, flowering repeatedly over many years.
Color meanings
0
deception
1
cunning beauty
2
mimicry