S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 47/1-2. (Budapest, 1986)

FOLIA ENTOMOLOGICA HUNGARICA ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK Abstract: A report on the s oil-zoological collecting trip in September 1985 in Kenya is given. Besides a brief account on the trip, a list of collecting sites with all the pertaining data is presented. East Africa is among those distant lands which particularly attracted Hungarian explorers, especially when scientific investigation was involved. The explorer and traveller (Sámuel TELEKI, László MAGYAR) or the hunter and collector (Kálmán KITTENBERGER, Zsigmond SZÉCHENYI) predecessors were followed by specialists in zoology and botany. Since the expeditions of János SZUNYOGHY in Tanzania (1959-1965) several collector and investigators (T. PÓCS, A. BORHIDI, A. DEMETER, M. EORY, Gy. SIPOS, Á. DEZSŐ, L. PEREGOVITS) had the opportunity to visit one of the states of these vast stretches of land. The materials collected by the above-mentioned explorers are under elaboration. The soilinhabiting mites (Oribatida, Tarsonemida) have been studied in the past two decades (1963-1985) rather intensively, besides exploring the basic fauna of these territories, diving deeply into a more comprehensive evaluation the outlines of which is becoming gradually more clear. In order to gain a better understanding of the biotopes and habitats prevailing there it seemed almost indispensable for me to see everthing in nature. For this reason, in lack of other possibility offered, we accepted the kind help of Dr. B. HAUSER the section head of the Arthropoda Collection, Museum D' Histoire Naturelle, Geneva, Thus, with the permit and support of the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture, in fact, from private resources we realized our plans and finally reached Kenya in September, 1985, where we spent three weeks with intensive collectings. Our primary goal was to collect as many soil-inhabiting invertebrate animals as possible, besides this, we collected with the following methods other arthropoda groups, mollusks (fresh water, terrestrial and marine), too. 1. Soil, litter, moss, etc. samples, extracted in modified "BERLESE"-funnels. 2. Litter, decayed debris, detritus, moss, etc. sifted and extracted in MOCZARSKYWINKLER bags. 3. Soil, litter, moss, detritus, etc. samples conserved in FAA or desiccated (for Nematoda and Tardigrada). 4. Pitfall traps with ethylene glycol, partly baited with meat and various fruits. 5. Plankton, submerged plants and detritus samples collected from sea or fresh water and conserved by FAA or alcohol. 6. Netting the grassy vegetation. XLVII. 1-2 1986 p. 109-JI3 A report on the soil-zoological collecting trip in Kenya By S. MAHUNKA and L. MAHUNKA—PAPP (Received December 1, 1985)