Despite its name, O. lesbis is not endemic to Lesbos and may be found on the neighbouring island of
Samos as well as the Bodrum peninsula in southwest Anatolia. It is however a true rarity in all its stations and is perhaps at its most frequent in the Andisa area of northwest Lesbos ( where all these
photo's were taken ).
It grows in sometimes substantial colonies on alkaline soils in full sun to mid shade but seems to demonstrate a preference for moist substrates with light tree covering. This may be open oak woodland or as with the illustrations here, mixed pine, which is why the flowers show a liberal dusting of pollen. This pine pollen is a familiar problem with orchid photography in the Aegean and on occasion's can encrust the flower so thoroughly that it renders an Ophrys indistinguishable. The only tip in this respect is to identify buds that are about to open and catch them first thing in the morning. This isn't particularly practical however when you find that rarity miles from base !
O. lesbis is a member of the O. argolica group that grows to a maximum of 30cms and may contain up to
10 flowers, though more normally it would be a fairly low, sturdy plant with around 6. It can be variable in appearance and in the case of the colony shown here will readily hybridise with other Ophrys. A single recognizable plant of O. villosa was growing amongst the colony and many of the nearby O. lesbis showed marked characteristics of the interloper. Pictures 11, 12 and 13 are all hybrids but the influence of O. villosa on No 12 is especially recognizable. The photo's all date from the second week of April.
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