This orchid with a strictly Mediterranean distribution is present in all regions of Central, Southern and Insular Italy. It grows in openings of Mediterranean garrigues, in gaps of maquis vegetation, sometimes in dry meadows and on uncultivated ground, from sea level to about 600 m, with optimum in the Mediterranean belt. The species is sporadic on the edge of the Sardinian temporary ponds, in contact with grasslands and garrigues. The species of Ophrys have a complex mechanism of pollination, in which the labellum shape and the smell of the flowers simulate a female hymenopteran (usually of the genus Andrena) and attract the males that, attempting to copulate with the flower, determine the attachment of the pollinarium to their body; the capsule contains numerous small seeds that, despite the scarcity of reserve substances, germinate with the help of a symbiotic fungus of the genus Rhizoctonia. The genus name in Greek means 'eyebrow', perhaps from a plant mentioned by Pliny which produced a dye for eyebrows, or because of the hairiness of the labellum of some species; the species name comes from the Greek 'tenthredon' (wasp-like bee or a wasp), referring to the form of the labellum. Flowering period: April to May.

Italian name(s): Ofride aprilia (Italia), Ofride fior di Vespa (Italia), Ofride grandiflora (Italia), Ofride negletta (Italia).