Eremias arguta (Pallas, 1773)

Oskyrko, Oleksandra & Jablonski, Daniel, 2021, The first comprehensive data on the distribution of reptiles within the Southern Bug eco-corridor, Ukraine, Herpetozoa 34, pp. 97-114 : 97

Eremias arguta (Pallas, 1773)

Numbers of records.

26 (2.7% of the data).

Number of grid cells.

16 (5.4% of the entire grid; Table 1 ; Figs 4 , 8B )

Comments.

Eremias arguta was reported from the northern part and along the Southern Bug River to the Black Sea coast ( Szczerbak 1993; Dotsenko and Radchenko 2005; Tarashchuk 2007; Sillero et al. 2014). We found this species only in four localities: one north of Mykolaiv city near the Balovne Village, and three near the estuary Galitsynove Village and Kinburn Spit. Historic records from the northern part of the Mykolaiv Oblast are particularly interesting because this species has practically disappeared from central Ukraine. We checked these points (Oniscoves, Sirovo, Rybakivka, Oleksandrivka and Voznesensk villages; Szczerbak 1993; Dotsenko and Radchenko 2005), but did not find the species there. In Ukraine, the species’ range is limited to the steppe and, partially, the forest-steppe zones. It inhabits biotopes with sandy and sandy-shells soils with thin psammophilous steppe and halophilous herbaceous vegetation ( Szczerbak 1993). As forests grow and the crowns of the trees close, E. arguta gradually disappears. An increase of the projective cover of herbaceous vegetation leads to the same result ( Polynova and Mishustin 2020). Strict requirements for substrate and light lead to a mosaic-strip character of the subspecies’ distribution ( Kotenko 1986). We hypothesize that we did not find the species in the north because previously suitable habitats have been planted with forests in the 1990s ( Tkach 2012).

Figures

Figure 4. Distribution of (species) within the Mykolaiv Oblast (Ukraine), based on localities (left; white circles - literature and public database data, yellow circles - authors' data) and 10 km UTM grid (right; yellow squares - species recorded).

Figure 8. Representative pictures of species of herpetofauna: A. Emys orbicularis, juvenile, Hrushivka; B. Eremias arguta, Balovne; C. Lacerta agilis, Voznesensk; D. Lacerta viridis, juvenile, Kuripchyne; E. Lacerta viridis, male (front) and female, Voznesensk; F. Podarcis tauricus, Novohryhorivka. Photographs by D. Shyriaieva (A), O. Oskyrko (B, C, D, E, F).