Rhamphomyia (Holoclera) variabilis (Fallén)

Shamshev, Igor V. & Barták, Miroslav, 2024, New species and records of the Rhamphomyia subgenus Holoclera (Diptera, Empididae) from the Palaearctic Region, Zootaxa 5512 (4), pp. 512-530 : 524

Rhamphomyia (Holoclera) variabilis (Fallén)

Empis variabilis Fallén, 1816: 29 . Type locality: “ Scania ” [= Skåne] ( Sweden).

Material examined. RUSSIA. Leningradskaya Prov.: Rakovichi, Luga env., 10,22. vii.1897, Pleske (2 ♂) ; Luga , 23.viii.1953, AAS (1 ♂) ; Vyborgskiy Distr., Gulf of Finland , Bolshoy Berezovy Is., 5.viii.1981, Kandybina (1 ♂) . UKRAINE. Kiev, Puscha , 23.viii.1911, Yu. Wagner (1 ♂) .

Distribution. Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia (north-west and centre of European part), Sweden, Ukraine.

Remarks. It seems that R. (H.) variabilis (R. (H.) flava group) is rare in the Eastern Palaearctic because only a few specimens have been taken over the past 120 years from Leningradskaya and Moskovskaya Provinces of Russia and from the environs of Kiev of Ukraine. Barták & Syrovátka (1983) recorded R. (H.) variabilis from Kabardino-Balkaria, but later this species was not found among extensive material collected from the Caucasus. This is the first record of this species from Ukraine.