Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768)

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

Zamenis longissimus (Laurenti, 1768)

Number of records.

23 (2.3% of the data).

Number of grid cells.

Seven (2.3% of the entire grid; Table 1 ; Figs 7 , 9F ).

Comments.

In Ukraine, Z. longissimus reaches the eastern border of the European part of its range ( Böhme 1993). Populations are concentrated mainly in the western part of the country; most individuals were recorded from Transcarpathia ( Szczerbak and Szczerban’ 1980; Darevsky and Orlov 1988). In the Middle Dniester region it is extremely rare or has completely disappeared ( Dotsenko et al. 2013); there is also a stable population quite remote from the main part of the range in the valley of the Southern Bug River ( Dotsenko and Radchenko 2005; Bilyakov and Tarashchyuk 2008; Dotsenko et al. 2013; Sillero et al. 2014; Suriadna et al. 2018; Voblenko et al. 2019). Records for the Mykolaiv Oblast seem distributed rather sparsely. Our records were from Mygiya to the village of Semenivka. Also, in September 2020, two adults were found near Yuzhnoukrainsk. The population is distributed in warm forested areas with hilly or rocky habitats with proper insolation and varied vegetation (Fig. 10B ). A population was reported from the Trykratskyi Forest (UkrBIN ID #113093).

Figures

Figure 7. 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 9. Representative pictures of species of herpetofauna: A. Natrix natrix, Migia; B. Natrix tessellata, Yuzhnoukrainsk; C. Coronella austriaca, Mykolaiv; D. Dolichophis caspius, juvenile, Mykolaiv; E. Elaphe sauromates, valley of the Inhul River; F. Zamenis longissimus, Migia. Photographs by S. Lehkyy (A, B), V. Strenada (C, D, E, F).

Figure 10. Representative habitats for the herpetofauna in the Mykolaiv Oblast: A. habitat of Coronella austriaca near the village of Zaichevsk; B. habitat of Zamenis longissimus near the village of Grushivka; C. habitat of Podarcis tauricus near the village of Trykhaty; D. Buzk's Gard National Nature Park. Photographs by V. Strenada (A), O. Oskyrko (B, C, D).