Dolichurus bicolor Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845

(Figs 3–4)

Dolichurus bicolor Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845: 328 . Syntypes: ♀♀, France, Paris area [depository unknown]; Shorenko 2003: 96 (Crimea).

Material examined. Russia. Crimea, 1 ♂, Karadag Nature Reserve, 2–9.VII.2019, K. Shorenko [MMC]; 4 ♀, 2 ♂, Dagestan, 4 km SW Derbent, near Dzhalgan [42.02587ºN 48.25647ºE], 6–7.VIII.2018, MM [MMC] .

Distribution. Russia (Crimea, * Dagestan); Central and South Europe, Turkey.

Remarks. Specimens from Dagestan sharply differ from Western European and Crimean specimens by the red coloration of the middle and hind legs. They probably may represent a separate taxon, but additional study of European material is needed.

Dolichurus bicolor belongs to the informal group (Arnold 1952; Ohl 2004) of species with an unmodified male metasoma and characterized by almost flattened S3 without a depressed posterior margin, and by the more or less exposed apical metasomal segments. This group also contains African D. ignitus F. Smith, 1869, D. venator Arnold, 1928, D. bimaculatus Arnold, 1928, D. guillarmodi Arnold, 1952; Nearctic D. greenei Rohwer, 1916; Southeast Asian D. amamiensis Tsuneki & Iida, 1964, D. stantoni (Ashmead, 1904), and fossil (Middle Eocene Baltic amber) D. heevansi Ohl, 2004 . The absence of general features in females distinguishing this species and the wide geographical distribution do not yet allow to formalize the taxonomic status of this group.

Record from Kharkov Prov., Ukraine (Beletskiy 1873; Yaroshevskiy 1881) is erroneous (Shorenko 2003). The error cause, probably, due to misidentification and incorrect interpretation by Beletskiy of the species “ Aporus bicolor Vander-Lind. [sic!]” cited in Ivanov’s paper (Ivanov 1872).