Haris Attila: Hymenoptera Research in the Carpathian Basin - Natura Somogyiensis 29. (Kaposvár, 2016)
History of the Aculeata research in Hungary from 1920
Haris, A.: Hymenoptera Research in the Carpathian Basin 77 Nándor Tomala Hungarian lepidoptera specialist. His publication activity spans 21 years between 1892 and 1913. Tomala had an expedition to Abbázia. He was one of the founding members of the Hungarian Entomological Society. Nándor Tomala argued the statements of an article published by Electrical World, in which they described harms of wasps making holes for nesting on the lead cover of electrical wires. According to Tomala's opinion, the cover had already been destroyed and punched and wasps only used these holes as nest (Tomala 1904). Lajos Méhely (24th August 1862 Kisfalud-Szögi - 4th February 1953 Budapest). Herpetologist, one of the most influential zoologist of his age, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The scenes of his childhood and early education were in Kassa, Lőcse and Eperjes. He graduated at Budapest University of Technology and Economy. After his professorship in Brassó, he was employed by the Department of Zoology of the Hungarian National Museum, where he finally became the director of the department. From 1932, he was appointed manager of Department of Zoology of Budapest University of Sciences. Méhely described a series of reptiles and mammals world wide. His interest in zoology expanded to the systematics of different arthropods like crustaceans and bees either. In Hymenopterology, his main and only one scientific work is a monograph on the Colletidae bees of Hungary. This book, like his other zoological works, was illustrated by himself in high artistic standard (Méhely 1935). He was enthusiastic propagator of Charles Darwin's evolution theory however he expanded Darwinism to human field (social darwinism) and published political and social articles and studies on Hungarian racial theory and Turanism. He was the greatest but also the most controversial figure of zoology, not only the Hungarian zoology but one of the most prominent scientist of the zoology in general of his period. By the stalinist regime, after the World War 2, he was sentenced for lifelong imprisonment for "war criminal against the people" because of his political publications. Hard to enumerate the species which were dedicated to his honor, let's see some of them: Rhinolophus mehelyi Matschie, 1901 (Méhely's horshoe bat); Microtus oeconomus mehelyi (Ehik, 1928); Mus mehelyi (Bolkay, 1925); Micromys mehelyi (Bolkay, 1925); (mammal species); Clemmis mehelyi Kormos, 1911 (fossil turtle); Agama mehelyi Tomier, 1902 (agama); Xenorhina mehelyi (Boulenger, 1898); Chiasmocleis mehelyi Caramaschi & Cruz, 1997; Austrochaperina mehelyi (Parker, 1934); Xenobatrachus mehelyi Zweifel, 1972 (amphibian). He died in Mosonyi street prison-hospital in Budapest, in 1953, at his age of 90. Adolf Lendl (6th May 1862 Orczyfalva - 25th September 1943 Keszthely) university professor, zoologist, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Adolf Lendl finished high school at Temesvár and graduated at University of Technology in Budapest where he received teaching degree and also doctorated. He remained at the University of Technology and became professor of the Department of Zoology. From 1890, Lendl was employed by the Hungarian National Museum (Dept, of Zoology) where he worked 4 years. In 1894, he established his own company (school equipment factory). In 1911, he was appointed director of Budapest Zoo. Few years after that he retired from academic life, Adolf Lendl moved to Keszthely where he lived his remaining 11 years. In 2 papers, Adolf Lendl published his observations on the life history of leafeutter bees (Lendl 1891a, b). Béla Kuthy (23rd April 1873 Szabadka - 3rd May 1946 Kiskunhalas), was medical doctor and dentist of Kiskunhalas. He was bom in Szabadka (now Subotica) and finished there the local high school (about this high school see also the entries: Alfred Taupert, Gyula Szöllősi and Aleksandar Rafailovic). He graduated as medical doctor at Budapest University.
