New data on 22 species of bees of the family Megachilidae from the North Caucasus and the south of European Russia are reported. Six species are new to Russia: Hoplitis curvipes (Morawitz, 1871), Osmia cinerea Warncke, 1988, O. ligurica Morawitz, 1868, O. cyanoxantha Pérez, 1879, Protosmia glutinosa (Giraud, 1871), and Coelioxys mielbergi Morawitz, 1880. Hoplitis turcestanica (Dalla Torre, 1896), sp. resurr. is treated as a distinct species, not a junior synonym of H. caularis (Morawitz, 1875). Megachile albocristata Smith, 1853 and M. alborufa Friese, 1911 are listed instead of previously recorded M. lefebvrei (Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1841) and M. pyrenaica (Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1841), respectively. Fourteen new regional records are reported: seven species are new to the North Caucasus, five ones are new to the south of European Russia, and two species are new to the European part of Russia as a whole. The numbers of megachilid bee species currently known in Russia, the North Caucasus, and the south of European Russia are 217, 130, and 71, respectively. The lectotype of Osmia proxima Morawitz, 1875 is designated.
CAST/MspI gene polymorphism and its impact on growth traits of Soviet Merinoand Salsk sheep breeds in the South European part of Russia
