Article

Ophrys holoserica sllbsp. apulica was until recently considcred endemic to southem haly, but during the last few years severaI finds have been reported from Greece. In the present paper, a comparison is made between plants from Rhodes and Monte Gargano in Italy. It is concluded that they are not conspecific and that O. holoserica subsp. apulica must stili be considered endemic to southern haly. The Rhodean taxon is considered identical with the recently described O. calypsus from Leipsoi and Naxos. However, the taxonomic validity of O. calypsus is questioned, and it is hypothesized that it should rather be regarded as cases of hybridization and probably introgression between O. holoserica subsp. holoserica and O. solopax subsp. heldreichii. A distance diagram of morphological Ophrys data from Rhodes and Crete, as well as phenological observations on the Rhodean specimens, support our hypothesis. Possible pre- and post-zygotic barriers between the supposed parental taxa are discussed. While Hirth & Spaeth (1994) recognized O. calypsus as a separate species, Delforge (1995) split the complex into O. heldreichii var. calypsus and O. heldreichii var. pseudoapulica. In contrast, we propose that O. calypslIs should be treated merely as a hybrid complex with no need to be recognized as one or more independent taxa.