O. lindia was first described from Rhodes by Paulus in 2001 and is a member of the O. subfusca group of  Ophrys. Its name refers to the Greek goddess Athena-Lindia who was an honoured deity of the small town of Lindos on Rhodes.

This is a rare species and one which can be extremely difficult to identify with certainty. It is known from Rhodes, Lesbos, Karpathos and Anatolia but is thought also to occur on other of the Aegean islands, notably Chios. The species similarity to other more widespread Aegean Ophrys is one of the probable reasons why its considered rare and why its distribution is not better known.

Whilst there are several identifying characteristics ascribed to O. lindia, it is somewhat variable and none can be individually regarded as completely diagnostic. The lip can vary from dark brown with a bright yellow margin to light brown with an orange margin but in either case the margin is broad and strongly demarcated. The lip is longitudinally quite flat and transversely slightly convex with lateral lobes that are also convex and which can fold slightly under the lip. The speculum is normally drab and the crescents usually only vaguely apparent. The speculum is however quite distinctive in that it is often limited to the upper half of the lip or at least finishing significantly short of the sinuses. The perianth always projects forward, often strongly.

O. lindia shows a preference for the partial shade of open pine woods and  thick  phrygana, which is a good means of separating it from the very similar O. blitopertha, which invariably occurs in full sun. The pictures are from Chios and Lesbos dating from the first week of April.