Ladislav Roller - Attila Haris - Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Sawflies of the Carpathian Basin, History and Current Research - Natura Somogyiensis 11. (Kaposvár, 2008)
Sawfly collections in and around the Carpathian Basin
Sawfly collections in and around the Carpathian Basin Austria Wien, Naturhistorisches Museum The largest Natural History Museum of the region and also one of the most important in Europe with the second largest Hymenoptera collection after Budapest. The museum is the successor of the Imperial Natural History Museum established by Franz Joseph emperor and king of Austria-Hungary in the middle of the 19 th century. The oldest entomological collections dated back to the 18 th century. The total Symphyta collection is about 33,000 specimens, in 90 % identified and placed in 119 drawers. About 75% (approximately 25,000 specimens) are from Austria, mainly eastern Austria including Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria etc. The collectors were mainly Priesner, Franz, Mann, Simony, Graeffe, Zerny, Fischer and Maidl. The Carpathian Basin sawfly fauna is not represented in the rich type collection. Graz, Landesmuseum Joanneum One of the most important regional museums in Austria with 20 departments and institutions. The collection comprises high number of valuable objects on Styrian wildlife, culture and arts. It was founded in 1811. The Symphyta collection counts approximately 1000 specimens identified by Prof. Wolfgang Schedl and published in serial papers. The sawflies were collected mostly in Steiermark and in smaller part (about 130 localities) from the western Carpathian Basin (Burgenland, SE Steiermark, E Slovenia). Hungary Budapest, Hungarian Natural History Museum Earlier it was the Natural History Department of the Hungarian National Museum founded in 1802. The Hymenoptera collection nearly reaches the 1 million specimens and contains types of about 6,000 species. All region of the Carpathian Basin is represented in the collection; the sawflies from this area were collected mainly in Transylvania and Hungary. Subcarpathia is also well represented (partly collected by L. Zombori and partly donated by V. Ermolenko) and more or less extensive the Slovak collection either. Specimens collected from the Carpathian Basin are deposited in the Hungarian Collection (Hymenoptera Hungáriáé); the others are in the exotic collection (Hymenoptera Orbis Terrarum). The sawfly collection is in 80% identified. From the total 66,700 Symphyta specimens, 43,500 specimens were collected in the Carpathian Basin (Transylvania: 11,000 specimens, Subcarpathia: 3,200 specimens, Slovakia: 1,300 specimens, Hungary: 27,300 and the Southern territories with about 800 specimens) and the other 23,200 exotic sawfly specimens were collected from all parts of the world although Mongolia and Korea are represented the best. The oldest sawfly specimens were collected in the mid of 19th century (the sawfly part of the Koy collection from the late 18 th century lost). Sawfly types from the Carpathian Basin: Mocsáry, Konow, Zombori, Haris, Zilahi-Kiss, Biró, Taeger, Tischbein and Andre types. The type of Protenthredo transylvanicus Pongrácz was lost during the 1956 revolution. Old manuscripts of János Frivaldszky and Sándor Mocsáry contain also valuable faunistic data.
