O. Merkl szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 68. (Budapest, 2007)
We found the presence of three species of Crossopalpus BIGOT, 1857 (Hybotidae) characteristic, and not in negligible individual numbers. Species of Psychodidae, Chironomidae and Sciaridae were represented just by one species each, while sphaerocerid species, like Philocoprella italica (DEEMING, 1964), several species of Elachisoma RONDANI, 1880 and some other sphaerocerids, characteristic to old dung of larger hoofers, are collectible in low numbers. It is a peculiar feature of the given collection period, that we captured a minute phorid fly Metopinapileata SCHMITZ, 1936 in significant number. This species was sampled formerly by pan traps on dry sheep pastures. The analysis of the original samples show that its occurrence is rather hectic: numbers in consecutive days, or on the same day of the next year are extremely different, or even not captured at all. The surveyed dipterous assemblage is species rich, indeed. If samples from 2002 are included, representatives of 106 Diptera species were found. However, there are 75 species, which are represented by less than 92 individuals, i.e. by less than 0.1% proportion of the whole collection. One may regard 0.1% dominance as the severest critérium of rarity (cf. PAPP 1999). There are but a very few species among those 106 specimens, which would not have been connected to dung, as to a substrate for development of larvae (see more below). According to PAPP ( 1992), the number of possible species representations may be as high as 270 to 280 (see below). After all we have to regard the Hortobágy cow pat Diptera as a species rich assemblage. We have never seen such a high species number in cow pat Diptera. For comparison, in 1969 at Aranyosgadány 12,400 adults of 39 species were reared from cow pats collected on a really old cattle pasture (PAPP 1971). Of the 106 species there were three species new for the fauna of Hungary. The milichid fly, Desmometopa varipalpis MALLOCH, 1927 was captured as a single individual (on the 23 rd of August 2002). This record is the first (and still the only one) in Europe, too. The identification process of the samples collected on the Hortobágy initiated a revision of the whole collection of the Sepsis species in the HNHM. It turned out that the species Sepsis neocynipsea MELANDERet SPULER, 1917 lives in our low mountains only; it is rare even there. We did not find any specimen among the more than 92,000 adults, and the specimen, which SOÓS (1981) identified and published from the Hortobágy National Park, does not belong to S. neocynipsea. Consequently, that species must be deleted from the list of
