O. tardans
was first described from Lecce, Italy by Danesch and Danesch in 1972 and is a member of the O. tenthredenifera group
of Ophrys. Its name refers to the lateness of its flowering.
Its range is reported as being restricted to southern Puglia and most particularly to the Province of Lecce centred on the coastal town of San Cataldo. Whilst it was once quite common here, it is becoming less frequent in a region where tourist development and agriculture are increasingly making orchid habitat scarce. O. tardans is a stabilized hybrid between O. candica and O. neglecta and as is usual with such hybridogenous species, the individual characteristics of each progenitor are exhibited in varying proportions. O. neglecta is a small flower whereas typically O. tardans is medium sized with a browner lip and an extended speculum. This speculum enlargement can take various forms and be more or less obvious but almost always involves some cream/whitish candicoid markings. These features reinforce the view that O. candica. is one of the original gene contributors. It is notable however that this latter species has not in recent times been found at any of the small number of sites known to be home to O. tardans.
Photos 5 to 10 come from an area significantly outside of the species recognized range in southern Puglia as they originate some 250kms north west of San Cataldo in Campobssa. It may be that these are occasional hybrids which have not evolved unique pollinators, they are nonetheless indistinguishable from O. tardans.
The remaining photos are from San Cataldo and all date from the last two weeks of April.
Its range is reported as being restricted to southern Puglia and most particularly to the Province of Lecce centred on the coastal town of San Cataldo. Whilst it was once quite common here, it is becoming less frequent in a region where tourist development and agriculture are increasingly making orchid habitat scarce. O. tardans is a stabilized hybrid between O. candica and O. neglecta and as is usual with such hybridogenous species, the individual characteristics of each progenitor are exhibited in varying proportions. O. neglecta is a small flower whereas typically O. tardans is medium sized with a browner lip and an extended speculum. This speculum enlargement can take various forms and be more or less obvious but almost always involves some cream/whitish candicoid markings. These features reinforce the view that O. candica. is one of the original gene contributors. It is notable however that this latter species has not in recent times been found at any of the small number of sites known to be home to O. tardans.
Photos 5 to 10 come from an area significantly outside of the species recognized range in southern Puglia as they originate some 250kms north west of San Cataldo in Campobssa. It may be that these are occasional hybrids which have not evolved unique pollinators, they are nonetheless indistinguishable from O. tardans.
The remaining photos are from San Cataldo and all date from the last two weeks of April.
