O. taigetica
was first described from Sparta (Greece) by Presser and Hertel in 2010 and is a member of the
widespread and increasingly confusing O. mammosa group
of Ophrys.
The range of this species is centered on the Taygetus mountains of the southern Peloponnese but is also known from a small number of other sites, primarily on high ground above 750 metres. It is probably an under recorded species due to its similarity to O. aesculapii. The O. mammosa group of Ophrys is well represented in Greece, where hybridization is widespread and intermediate populations common. This interbreeding, when taken with the O. mammosa groups vast propensity for natural variation, can significantly complicate identification.
In its core Taygetus mountain range, O. taigetica does not encounter other group members and populations are regarded as pure. This is not the case in its limited number of other sites where less certainty can be attached to its recognition. The picture accompanying this page comes from a location east of the mountains and at a lower altitude, in the vicinity of Koumousta Laconia. For reasons already expressed, its identification cannot be guaranteed as correct.
The illustrations are from the Peloponnese, dating from the last week of April at a time when O. aesculapii should have finished and O. taigetica at higher altitudes just appearing.
The range of this species is centered on the Taygetus mountains of the southern Peloponnese but is also known from a small number of other sites, primarily on high ground above 750 metres. It is probably an under recorded species due to its similarity to O. aesculapii. The O. mammosa group of Ophrys is well represented in Greece, where hybridization is widespread and intermediate populations common. This interbreeding, when taken with the O. mammosa groups vast propensity for natural variation, can significantly complicate identification.
In its core Taygetus mountain range, O. taigetica does not encounter other group members and populations are regarded as pure. This is not the case in its limited number of other sites where less certainty can be attached to its recognition. The picture accompanying this page comes from a location east of the mountains and at a lower altitude, in the vicinity of Koumousta Laconia. For reasons already expressed, its identification cannot be guaranteed as correct.
The illustrations are from the Peloponnese, dating from the last week of April at a time when O. aesculapii should have finished and O. taigetica at higher altitudes just appearing.
