bee's which are the most significant pollinators of this family
of Ophrys.
Its home is Southern France as far north as Drome and also northern Italy down to Tuscany. Its probably at its most frequent in the Maritime Alp's though it's not a common orchid anywhere.
Identification is not easy and there are several other species
with which it may be confused. Two imprortant features of the O. tetraloniae group are the tendencies to be more or less
scolopaxoid and also for the submarginal band of hairs to be broader and more complete than in other similar species.
As can be seen from the pictures, O. linearis usually presents
a strongly scolopaxoid appearance, though it is unlikely to
ever be confused with any of the O. scolopax grouping which are a distinctly slimmer flowered Ophrys.
The illustrations here come from Drome in the extreme south of the Vercors National Park.
