"Hadogenes bicolor" was first described by W. F. Purcell in 1899, based on material collected by the Reverend J. W. Daneel "about twenty miles east of Pietersburg [now Polokwane], Zoutpansberg Distr., Transvaal".The name "Hadogenes bicolor" has previously been used to cover animals now recognised as three separate species, "H. bicolor", "H. longimanus" and "H. newlandsi".