Az Alpokalja természeti képe közlemények 4. (Praenorica - Folia historico-naturalia. Szombathely, 2001)

Sáfián, Szabolcs: New data on the distribution of the Odontosia carmelita Esper, 1799 in Hungary (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae)

Praenorica Folia historico-naturalia, IV (2001) glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) in the nearest bog forest. There are also several birch trees in the forest stands through the whole length of the Hidegvíz-völgy (Hidegvíz valley). Other woodlots of older pure birch stands can be found in the upper part of the Hidegvíz valley, where two additional O. carmelita specimens were captured. Also the Hungarian-Austrian border was „naturally" marked with a ten meters wide birch forest belt. More collections were made specifically to collect O. carmelita using a 125 W mercury vapour lamp (18.IV.1995, 19.IV.1995, 11.V.1995). The weather was very cold and cloudy on 25. April 1995, when the O. carmelita specimens were collected. A total of 12 moths were collected, including the two O. carmelita specimens. The light trapping was repeated in the following years in several parts of the Hidegvíz valley, but no specimens of 0. carmelita were collected. The next two specimens were collected in 1998, together with 2 specimens of Odontoptera bidentata Clerck, 1759 another species living on B. pendula. The weather was light rain and quite cold, and not many other moths flew onto the light. Two days before, there was a big activity of moths in the same biotope not far from the collecting place, but without O. carmelita. Light-trapping was carried out in other parts of the Sopron Mts. in the years 1999 and 2000 in order to find more 0. carmelita, mostly in birch stands, but no more individuals of this species were collected. DISCUSSION Probably the biggest Hungarian population of O. carmelita lives in the Sopron Mts., mostly distributed in the cooler, humid part of the mountains (Brennberg basin), which is influenced by the climate of the Alps. All specimens of O. carmelita were found in that part of the mountains. One of the possible reasons of the relative incidence of this species is the forest-management strategy in the XIX century. The forests were owned by the government of the town of Sopron, and they used these stands as short-term crops for energy resources by employing a coppice system. This led to the degradation of the natural beech and oak forests. Unmixed birch stands now cover large areas of the forests, as this is a pioneer species with fast regeneration. Unfortunately we have no data from the Austrian parts of the Sopron Mts., but this species may be present there and also in the neighbouring Rosalia Alps. Odontosia carmelita is an important member of the Hungarian Lepidoptera fauna. It is listed as endangered one in the Hungarian Red Book (VARGA et al., 1989) and protected for 10000 HUF. The Hungarian populations are peripherals, which are stricdy dependent on the varying environmental complex. The Sopron population of this moth is not currently endangered, but vulnerable. Enough birch stands can be found in all parts of the mountains, and there are also birch trees at the edges of the stands and forestry roads. The area-protection of O. carmelita would be guaranteed in the Sopron Mts. if these conditions were permanently stabilized. Protection of the birch stands of the Sopron Mts. must be an important concern of the Fertő-Hanság National Park. Other Lepidoptera species 115