S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 30/2. (Budapest, 1977)

II. The environs of Sfax Our base was in the university college of an agricultural combine of the ENAT, at Boughrara, 33 km NW of Sfax; the college stands in an enormous olive tree plantation. In this region, the olive tree forests form a semicircle with a radius of about 80 km, centering around Sfax; accordingly, the original vegetation was nearly completely eradicated. Natural conditions can be encountered in spots only, the saline marshes of small basins without outlet, the banks of smaller streams, short sections of the seacoast, and some wholly unproductive, rocky sites. Thanks to our great mobility, we were still able to,apply aU collecting methods and to gather very rich and divers materials. Lighting was especially successful in Boughrara (Nos. 60, 61, 64, 70) and on the seacoast (No. 85), despite the fact that we had only 3-4 really good, completely windless nights.The netting and beating of the vegetation were also effective: during our visit, masses of a Ferula species (Umbelliferae) were in full bloom, offering sites of aggregation for the Hymenopterous and Dipterous faunas (No. 93). On the other and, the flowers of the olive tree were hardly visited by insects, whereas many of them appeared on the Tamarix shrubs just beginning to blossom (Nos. 94-95). We have repeatedly collected around the saline marshes, and the richest material was obtained there by our soil traps, their effectivity greatly enchanced by the putrid meat bait (No. 99). m. The environs of Degache Degache is one of the small oasis towns along the northern shores of the Chott El Djerid, the immense saline marsh nearly halving the country in a W - E direction. The position of our headquarters made it possible to visit the true sand deserts beginning at Nefta (No. 115), and also to collect in the divers desert habitats - alternating rocky, sandy, and saline areas - between Degache and Gafsa (Nos. 111-114). We collected also in the oases, where, under the palm trees, a strikingly rich fauna lives in the undergrowth level (Nos. 122-124), not only on the small plants but also on ground - despite (or because of?) irrigation. The latter horizont has an exceptional Carabid fauna, gathered by our soil traps (No. 118). The few days at our disposal in the desert region were insufficient for a thorough survey in every locality, but the uprooting or complete removal of the characteristic plants (Ephedra, Statice, etc.) gave very satisfactory results, at least in the number of species if not in individuals (No. 113). The masses of Insects flying to the light were also sensational on some occasions (Nos. 102, 108, 116). The collecting of mud-dwelling flies deep in the Chott El Djerid was also very successful (No. 120). The material collected in and around these three centres is supplemented by the one we gathered in during our longer travels (moving from one base to the next), specimens picked up when stopping to rest (Nos. 48-57). Naturally, these "collections" were confined to netting and singling, as well as the taking of soil samples. The primary aim of our collectings was in general the gathering of as representative a material of the arthropods and of the soil fauna as possible. We paid, however, special attention. even because of our special interests, to the collecting of lepidoptera, coleoptera, and flies. In addition, and rather for exhibition purposes only, we collected some vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles), too, as also a few mammals for subsequent parasitologlcal examinations. Our aims and possibilities also determined the collecting methods and instruments, applicable or to be applied. These were as follows: 1. Netting (sweeping in the grass level, or in water) 2. Beating 3. Sifting 4. Stone-turning 5. Lighting by night (MV lamp and camping gas lights) 6. Extraction (direct Moczarsky-Winkler and applied Berlese extractors) 7. Soil trapping (with or without bait) 8. Shore-washing 9. Soil samples for Tardigrades 10. Singling