It is not always recognized that Ophrys araneola is a species in its own right. It may therefore be a subspecies of Ophrys aranifera (or Ophrys sphegodes ) according to some authors or a simple variety. A synonym refers to Ophrys litigiosa .

Open a guide and try to identify it on 1 view and it's a guaranteed nightmare. Go to the Internet and Google and you'll find so many views that you won't know what you're dealing with either!

We must therefore accept the fact that within the Ophrys there is an Aranifera/sphegodes section and affiliated species. The differences will be morphological (smaller flowers, sepals larger or smaller than the labellum, colours of the petals and sepals, etc.), calendar-related (early or late flowering) and regional.

Prepare yourself well because the variations are such and the hybridizations so numerous that a doubt will often remain. Only a few rare individuals relate to the type and the others will have to remain prudently within the section.

Araneola is therefore reputed to be earlier in flowering date than Aranifera (in regions where both can be found) and the two often coexist and it is then just a question of distribution, more araneola at the beginning of the season and more aranifera at the end of the season. The flowers are a little smaller: generally the labellum seems tiny surrounded by long petals and sepals (petals greener and darker than the sepals). It is often rounder and edged with yellow (aranifera is elongated and also edged with yellow but this part being folded most of the time, it is not obvious).

The labellum is, according to some authors, slightly rounded, others do not report anything. The basal field is, like Ophrys aranifera, concolorous with the labellum.

Still among the oddities, there is a subspecies (or species) Ophrys viriscens which is considered according to the authors (see guides) to be more slender than Ophrys araneola or on the contrary more robust!?? Who to believe?

From my own observations in Aveyron, I can conclude, with great humility, that apart from very marked individuals with small flowers, small labellum often round and sepals generally tending towards white or pinkish white, many other Ophrys encountered in the field are difficult to classify because they are probably hybridized.