Haris Attila: Hymenoptera Research in the Carpathian Basin - Natura Somogyiensis 29. (Kaposvár, 2016)
Early History of the Aculeata research in Hungary from the 16th till the 19th century (1560–1800)
48 Natura Somogyiensis tions, wasps regularly prey honeybees in autumn time, when their natural preys are disappeared. Sometimes wasps satisfy with week and dead bees, sometimes they cause significant harms by the predation of the bee populations (PÁLFFI 1762). Pálffi, as young student, entered the Minorite order. After his ordination, he became priest at several noble family and later he was directed to Moldova, than to Szentdemeter finally to Udvarhely to do missionary work and pastoral service. Besides his catholic pastoral mission, he devoted his life to apiculture. Considering these early data, the first description of Aculeata species were completed relatively late when Giovanni Antonio Scopoli obtained a lecturer position at Selmecbánya (now Banská Stiavnica) Academy (this Academy is now Sopron University of Forestry in Western Hungary). The very first institute of the early Aculeata research was this academy founded by Károly the third of Hungary (the same person was Karl the sixth of the German-Roman Empire) in 1735. This "Berg-Schola" was reorganized in 1762 and raised to advanced, academic level by Maria Theresia (queen of Hungary and Bohemia) and renamed "Bergakademie zu Schemnitz". From 1769, Antonio Giovanni Scopoli took over the senior professor position and started to research the minerals of the surrounding mountains and the plants and animals of the countryside. The other important date of hymenoptera history is 1769 when he started the first (book- format) scientific periodical titled Anni Historico-Naturales. It had 5 volumes from 1769 till 1772. It was a little late, but for the end of the 18th century, the Linnean system spread all over in Hungary and the insect-collections became more and more popular. János Grossinger established the first scientific public collection at Kassa (now Kosice) convict. The other, still existing natural history museum was established in Nagyenyed (now Aiud) at the Bethlen College in 1796 named " Raritatum et Rerum Naturalium Museum" founded by Ferenc Benkő. In this time, the most famous amateur entomologist was Tóbiás Koy. Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus (4th October 1723 Wien - 29 April 1798 Wien) zoologist, Jesuit priest and professor. He entered to the Jesuits in 1740, after 4 years novitiate, recieved his title of Doctor Philosophiae. In Linz, Klangenfurt and finally in Graz he taught mathematics. In Graz, Poda established the natural history museum (Universalmuseum Joanneum), and became director of the local observatory either. From 1760, he moved to Hungary where he spent 13 years till the dissolution of the Jesuits by Maria Theresia. From this time, he returned to Wien, where he worked as an independent professor and researcher till his death. The Academy of Selmecbánya in that time was a very interesting place by collecting the intellectual leaders, in that time: not only Nicolaus Poda had professor position there but Antonio Scopoli as well. In this aspect, Selmecbánya was a kind of intellectual refuge. Although, significant part of his career of Nicolaus Poda was in Hungary, but his hymenopterological (better to say entomological) work connected to Austria, the very western edge of the Carpathian Basin, to Graz. In 1761, immediately after he moved to Hungary, he published his book, titled "lnsecta musei Graecensis" (Poda 1761), in this book he published 8 Apis, 6 Vespa and 8 Sphex species, 4 of them new for science (see the list separately). He didn't mention by who and where they were captured, we may only assume, that the place of collection was around Graz (western border of the Carpathian Basin). See for more detailes the Austrian part of this monograph.
