Ophrys cretica ssp beloniae (Cretan Ophrys): A superb ophrys found in the phrygana and low meadows in the south of the island. The species Ophrys cretica has green sepals, while this taxon, considered either a species or subspecies by authors, has pink sepals. Despite the relative proximity of the islands, the two taxa do not appear to intermix. The subspecies beloniae was described from Naxos and, for the most part, the Rhodes Ophrys cretica is assigned to subspecies beloniae, although some authors consider it a separate, as yet unnamed, subspecies. The respective distances between Crete, Naxos, and Rhodes are around 300 km, so it is difficult to believe that insularity can completely isolate these three taxa from one another; thus there will be the camp of authors who see them only as synonyms and those for whom each island could harbour a unique taxon.