Ophrys sphegodes, commonly known as the Early Spider Orchid, is a species of orchid found on alkaline meadows and waste land. It has a distribution that includes western

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

 and northern Europe

Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...

 extending to parts of southern England

Southern England

Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...

 but may also be found as far east as Corfu

Corfu

Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

 and possibly also in southern Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. The distribution may however be uncertain because of confusion between related species. In Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, it is restricted to parts of Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

 and Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 and is regarded as rare although where it is found it may be in stands of many hundreds of plants. It is classified as a British Red Data Book

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 plant. Despite its apparent vulnerability, it has very successfully colonised the chalk spoil dumping grounds created near Dover at Samphire Hoe

Samphire Hoe

Samphire Hoe is a new part of Kent, United Kingdom, consisting of reclaimed land made from 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl dug to create the Channel Tunnel, deposited on the seaward side of the famous White Cliffs of Dover. It is accessible by the public via single-track tunnel controlled by...

 from the excavations of the Channel Tunnel

Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...

.
It forms stands of relatively short plants between 30 cm to 40 cm in April and May. The flowers have yellow-green sepal

Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s and a velvety brown labellum with a distinctive H marking so that the flowers much resembles an arthropod

Arthropod

An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...

and especially a spider.

Synonyms

• Arachnites aranifera (Huds.) Bubani 1901
• Myodium araniferum (Huds.) Salisb. 1812
• Ophrys araneola Rchb. 1831
• Ophrys aranifera f. latipetala Chaub. ex St.-Amans 1821
• Ophrys aranifera f. oodicheila Renz 1928
• Ophrys aranifera f. peralba G .Keller 1912
• Ophrys aranifera f. pseudomuscifera Ruppert 1917
• Ophrys aranifera f. purpurea A. Camus 1929
• Ophrys aranifera f. semilunaris W. Zimm. 1917
• Ophrys aranifera Huds. 1778
• Ophrys aranifera ssp. litigiosa (E.G. Camus) P. Fourn.
• Ophrys aranifera ssp. araneola (Rchb.) K. Richt. 1890
• Ophrys aranifera subvar. bavarica Soó 1927
• Ophrys aranifera var. aurantiaca Beauverd 1929
• Ophrys aranifera var. euchlora J. Murray 1905
• Ophrys aranifera var. flavescens M. Schulze 1894
• Ophrys aranifera var. quadriloba Rchb.f. 1851
• Ophrys aranifera var. rotulata Beck 1890
• Ophrys aranifera var. subfucifera Rchb.f. 1851
• Ophrys argensonensis J.-C. Guérin & A. Merlet 1998
• Ophrys argentaria Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers 1991
• Ophrys classica Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers 2000
• Ophrys cretensis (H. Baumann & Künkele) Paulus 1988
• Ophrys crucigera Jacq. 1784
• Ophrys delmeziana P. Delforge 1989
• Ophrys exaltata ssp. mateolana (Medagli & al.) Paulus & Gack 1999
• Ophrys fuchsii W. Zimm. 1917
• Ophrys fucifera Sm. 1830
• Ophrys fuciflora Curtis 1778
• Ophrys galeopsidea Lag. ex Colmeiro 1889
• Ophrys garganica O. Danesch & E. Danesch 1975
• Ophrys garganica ssp. passionis (Sennen ex Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers) Paulus & Gack 1999
• Ophrys garganica ssp. sipontensis (R. Lorenz & Gembardt) Del Prete 1984
• Ophrys gortynia (H. Baumann & Künkele) Paulus 1988
• Ophrys hebes (Kalopissis) E. Willing & B. Willing 1980
• Ophrys illyrica S. Hertel & K. Hertel 2002
• Ophrys incubacea ssp. garganica (O. Danesch & E. Danesch) Galesi 2004
• Ophrys insectifera var. arachnites L. 1753
• Ophrys insectifera var. pallescens Moggr. 1869
• Ophrys insectifera var. rubescens Moggr. 1869
• Ophrys litigiosa E.G. Camus 1900
• Ophrys majellensis (Helga Daiss & Herm. Daiss) P. Delforge 1998
• Ophrys massiliensis Viglione & Véla 1999
• Ophrys mateolana Medagli & al. 1991
• Ophrys melitensis (Salk.) Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers 1994
• Ophrys montenegrina (H. Baumann & Künkele) Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers 1991
• Ophrys negadensis G. Thiele & W. Thiele 2001
• Ophrys passionis Sennen ex Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers 1994
• Ophrys passionis ssp. majellensis (Helga Daiss & Herm. Daiss) Romolini & Soca 2000
• Ophrys provincialis (H. Baumann & Künkele) Paulus 1988
• Ophrys quadriloba (Rchb.f.) E.G. Camus 1908
• Ophrys riojana C.E.Hermos., J. Eur. Orch. 31: 881 (1999).
• Ophrys ruppertii A. Fuchs 1917
• Ophrys sipontensis R. Lorenz & Gembardt 1987
• Ophrys sphegodes f. latipetala (Chaub. ex St.-Amans) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes f. pseudomuscifera (Ruppert) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes f. subfucifera (Rchb.f.) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. aurantiaca (Beauverd) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. bavarica (Soó) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. euchlora (J. Murray) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. flavescens (M. Schulze) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. pallescens (Moggr.) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. peralba (G. Keller) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. purpurea (A. Camus) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. rotulata (Beck) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. rubescens (Moggr.) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes lus. semilunaris (W. Zimm.) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. araneola (Rchb.) M. Laínz 1983
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. cretensis H. Baumann & Künkele 1986
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. garganica E. Nelson 1962
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. gortynia H. Baumann & Künkele 1986
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. hebes Kalopissis 1975
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. litigiosa (E.G. Camus) Bech. 1925
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. majellensis Helga Daiss & Herm. Daiss 1997
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. melitensis Salk. 1992
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. montenegrina H. Baumann & Künkele 1988
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. oodicheila (Renz) Riech. 2004
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. passionis (Sennen ex Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers) Sanz & Nuet 1995
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. provincialis H. Baumann & Künkele 1988
• Ophrys sphegodes ssp. tommasinii (Vis.) Soó 1971
• Ophrys sphegodes var. argentaria (Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers) Faurh. 2002
• Ophrys sphegodes var. garganicoides Balayer 1986
• Ophrys sphegodes var. gigantea A. Fuchs 1917
• Ophrys sphegodes var. subaesculapiana Balayer 1986
• Ophrys sphegodes var. subspruneriana Balayer 1986
• Ophrys sphegodes var. subtommasiniana Balayer 1986
• Ophrys tarquinia P. Delforge 2000
• Ophrys tommasinii ssp. araneola (Rchb.) Soó 1980
• Ophrys tommasinii ssp. litigiosa (E.G. Camus) Soó 1973
• Ophrys tommasinii Vis. 1851
• Ophrys vindelica W. Zimm. ex A. Fuchs 1928