Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)
112 Phylum Arthropode! JÁNOS GYŐRFI was concerned primarily with insects seen as forestry pests. His fruitful work gave rise to numerous publications. Especially notable is the way he would add, in his articles on pests, their natural enemies and the methods of 'biological control' against them. Among the most important forestry pests in Hungary are weevils of the Pissodes genus (Curculionidae), which he presented in monograph form, including many records from Sopron (GYŐRFI 1942a). GYŐRFI made intensive studies of the insect fauna of the Sopron and vicinity. He dealt with several taxa in his first communication (GYŐRFI 1940c). Later he published a monograph of the longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) of the territory (GYŐRFI 1944b), which was the first such study of a beetle family in the West Hungarian border region. Later in his career came a paper dealing with longhorns that damage poplar (GYŐRFI 1962). In 1947, he introduced the ground beetles of the Sopron district. Although the occurrence of several taxa reported by GYŐRFI is questionable in the light of more recent faunistic and taxonomic knowledge, his work had great faunistic importance. With 15 years of observations, he demonstrated the occurrence of 281 species in the area (GYŐRFI 1947). 33 The European spruce beetle (Dendroctonus micans) was a newcomer as a forestry pest when it appeared in huge numbers in Zala County and also at Sopron and Csepreg (GYŐRFI 1948). In another article, he considered the bark beetles (Scolytidae) that damage spruce plantations in Hungary (GYŐRFI 1950). The dry summers that began in the West Hungarian border region in 1942 brought with them heavy infestations of Norway spruce by populations of eighttoothed spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus), small spruce bark beetle (Polygraphus poligraphus) and pine bark beetle (Pityogenes chalcographus). He also dealt with secondary pests following on from forestry damage by the Gipsy moth (Lymantria dispar —GYŐRFI 1941C). Secondary infestation of ligneous plants was the subject of another article as well (GYŐRFI 1943). The study he published on forestry damage by the chafers Melolontha melolontha and M. hippocastani and protection against their larvae also reported on the spread of chafer strains in Hungary. He noted that Western Transdanubia contained populations of 'Strain No. VF (GYŐRFI 1960). Hungary's first centre of infestation by the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) was discovered in 1947. Despite strenuous efforts, the species has established itself and become the most dangerous potato pest. Among the first studies on the subject was one by TIBOR JERMY (1951), in 33 GYŐZŐ SZÉL of the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest kindly looked through the article in question and found four species (Carabus concolor, Trechus pulchellus, Abax schueppeli and Molops alpestris) whose occurrence he considers impossible in that area. He describes the occurrence of a further eight species as strongly questionable and notes that in several cases the author gave incorrect names. For instance, the list includes C. fabricii, which does not occur in Hungary, but C. irregularis was probably meant. Likewise absent from Hungary is C. catenulatus, but this could be a mistake for C. problematicus. The valid name for Cheporus metallicus is Pterostichus burmeisteri. Later authors have not perpetuated the obvious and probably errors, but some data difficult to check, such as the species Amara infima, appears with three question marks in the list published by SÁNDOR HORVATOVICH in 1993.
