Troglops albicans (Linnaeus, 1767)

Fig. 1

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Republic of Belarus: "Pripyatsky" National Park, 52°04'12.5"N, 28°09'23.1"E, 27.V 2025, 1 ♂, leg. A. Prischepchik.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. The male beetle has a body length of 3 millimeters. The general coloration is bluish-black, with the edges of the pronotum, the basal segments of the antennae, and the fore and middle legs being somewhat reddish-yellow. The head has a yellow forehead and a black other part. The head, with its somewhat protruding compound eyes, is wider than the thorax. The antennae, which have eleven segments, are attached somewhat in front of the compound eyes. The upper surface has short, indistinct, and quite sparse, fine, recumbent hairs (requiring magnification to see). The pronotum is narrower at the rear edge than in the middle and is wider than it is long. The narrowing towards the rear follows a curved line, not a straight one. The elytra end at the side edge and lack an inwardly bent continuation tucked slightly under the abdomen. The legs are quite slender, and the tarsi (feet) have four segments.

DISTRIBUTION. Troglops albicans is distributed across central, southern, and eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Middle East (Mayor, 2007; Plata-Negrache, 2012). A recent range expansion from Europe into the broader Palaearctic region has been suggested (Mirutenko, 2013). In light of data from GBIF (2025) and Biomap (2015), the discovery site in Belarus may represent the current northern boundary of the species distribution. It is the first documented record of T. albicans for the fauna of Belarus.

HABITAT. Specimen was found under the bark of a dry, fallen Quercus robur tree located in a floodplain meadow (Fig. 2).