S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 51. (Budapest, 1990)

FOLIA ENTOMOLOGICA HUNGARICA ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK LI 1990 p. 127-136 Zoological Collectings by the Hungarian Scientific Africa Expedition By A. VOJNITS (Received March 4, 1990) ABSTRACT: The Hungarian Scientific Africa Expedition spent six months in Africa from December 1987 to June 1988. They have travelled more than 20 000 km in the countries Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire. They have collected large and significant ethnoqrafic and geologic, as well as considerable botanic and zoologie materials. An Africa-expedition of wide scope was organised by the Eötvös Loránd University, the Hungarian Natural History Museum and the Geography Museum, Érd on the hundredth anniversary of the significant expedition of the Transylvanian count Sámuel Teleki to Eastern Africa. The venture was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Culture and Education, the Ministry of Land Protection and Economy of Watersupplies

, the Soros Foundation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and eighty further sponsors. The execution of the project was coordinated by the Novotrade Rt

. The company Auto Ree transported the three Toyota Land Cruiser jeeps of the expedition straight to the harbour of Dar es Salaam. The container, which was shipped to Eastern Africa from Hamburg by the firm Raaberspeed, also arrived there and was used as depo during the expedition. This container made it possible to bring with us a wide range of equipments, with the additional advantage of having no weight or space limits at the transport of the collected material on the way home. We have visited all the Eastern African geobotanical zones. We have collected in deserts and semideserts, on savannas, in many kind of forests (including the rainforests of the Congo Basin), on riverbanks and shores of lakes and the ocean, as well as in several altitudes of the African high mountains. The very rich program, the manifold activities, the strange life-style and the incredibly poor road conditions have made collecting and research endeavours very difficult. I was supported by all the members of the expedition, whose interest covered a different field of the research. I have to express my gratitude to Mr. Gyula Gábris (geomorphology

, Head of the expedition), Mr. János Lerner (cartography), Mr. Tamás Pócs (botany), Mr. Béla Pokoly (cartography), Mr. János Kubassek (science history), Mr. Árpád Juhász (geology), Mr. András Galácz (geology and paleontology), Dr. Mihály Sárkány (ethnography), Mr. Géza Füsi-Nagy (philology and africanology

), Mr. József Varga (physician) and Mr. József Sáfrány (producer and cameraman). I would not have been able to carry out my works without their help. The Hungarian Natural History Museum made an exhibition of the results of the expedition. The collected materials are deposited in several Hungarian institutes and museums according to their profils. The zoologie material en-