Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 91. (Budapest 1999)

Skuhravá, M. ; Skuhravý, V.: Gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyidae) of Hungary

ring on plants in gardens (BALÁS 1938/?, 1941a, 1948). His knowledge about galls was summarized in his book (BALÁS 1941). GYŐRFI (1940, 1955, 1956) studied insects associated with forest trees. He mentioned the following four gall midge species, viz. Kaltenbachiola strobi, Plemeliella abietina, Clinodiplosisstrobi and Winnertzia conorum, among pests developing in spruce cones in the environs of Sopron. Also the larvae of Contarinia marchali were found in the seed of Fraxinus excelsior. ERDŐS (1957a, b) investigated the insect communities of Phragmites communis and later (ERDŐS 1962) of Calamagrostis epigeios. He discovered a new gall midge species, whose larvae develop in large numbers inside reed steins, without causing any visible signs and named it "Thomasiella massa" but did not describe it. MÖHN (1968) described this species as Lasioptera hungarica based on larva only and this name is valid. AMBRUS in his 30 contributions (AMBRUS 1957-1995), of which the last three were published after his death, brought many new data about the occurrence of galls of cecidogenous insects and mites in various parts of Hungary. He collected galls in environs of Budapest (AMBRUS 1957), in the most western part at Sopron (AMBRUS 1958), Kőszeg (AMBRUS 1961), at Vendvidék (AMBRUS 1963c), in the broader environs of the lake Balaton (AMBRUS 1964/?;, in the Bakony Mts (AMBRUS 1964a, c, 1968a, 1979/?), in the Mátra Mts (AMBRUS 1975), northern part of Hungary and in lowlands along the river Tisza, in southern part near Szeged (AMBRUS 1962, 1971/?). He investigated also the gallinducing insects and mites at several arboretums: at Kámon (AMBRUS 1960/?), at Szigliget on the shore of the Lake Balaton (AMBRUS 1968/;, 1978), at Tiszakürt near Kecskemét, on the river Tisza (AMBRUS 1971/?), at Alcsút in the Vértes Mts (AMBRUS 1974), in the Botanical Garden of Vácrátót near the river Danube, northern Hungary (AMBRUS 1971a) and in the Hortobágy National Park (AMBRUS 1981). AMBRUS also studied the biology of several gall midge species which caused injury to several cultural plants (AMBRUS 1964e, 1965a, 1967, 1972, 1973, 1995). The present collection of galls which is deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest includes several thousand specimens of plants damaged by various gall-inducing mites and insects, mainly by gall wasps (Cynipidae) and gall midges (Cecidomyiidae). The gall collection was established in 1912 when SZÉPLIGETI donated his collection of galls as a gift to the Natural History Museum. Later also MOESZ, BALÁS and AMBRUS gave their collections to the Museum and their gifts, including a very rich material of galls collected in various parts of Hungary, enlarged significantly the gall collection deposited in this Museum. The galls of gall midges form the substantial part of this collection comprising several thousand items. STUDY AREA The territory of Hungary includes 93.000 square kilometres. The larger part is formed by the Pannonian lowland which is divided by several mountain groups, viz. Bakony, Vértes, Gerecse and Pilis, into a larger part called Alföld extending in the southern part along the rivers Danube and Tisza with their tributaries and the smaller part called Kisalföld in the northwestern part. The mountain Kckes, 1015 ma. s. 1. in the Mátra Mts, is the highest peak of Hungary. The largest lake