O. meropes was first described by Delforge from the Greek island of Kos in 2009 and is a member of the O. omegaifera group of Ophrys. The Merope were the ancient inhabitants of Kos.
This species is one of a group of Aegean Pseudophrys that have been presenting taxonomic challenges for well over a decade now, most particularly in terms of conspecificy but also the question of their very presence in the eastern Aegean. Several noted orchidologists have contributed to the debate but there was not (and there is still not) a great deal of unanimity as to how the different taxons should be regarded. A brief summary of the situation can be found under O. parosica.
O. meropes is morphologically very similar to O. pelinaea, a species which has a similar distribution around the Aegean and shares an almost identical habitat requirement. Importantly they have the same pollinator and this combination of factors lead inevitably to a reinforcement of the view held by many, that they are synonymous. A characteristic more common with O. meropes however, is the deep V shaped longitudinal groove separating pronounced prominences which are very reminiscent of O. creberrina from Crete.
The illustrations are all from Samos and all were growing in the relative shade of open pine forests. They date from the first week of April.
