S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 30/2. (Budapest, 1977)
FOLIA ENTOMOLOGICA HUNGARICA ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK (SERIES NOVA) xxx- 2 1977 p. 53,o6 The Collectings of the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Tunisia 1. Report of the zoological results of the first collecting trip in 1977 By L. GOZMÁNY and S. MAHUNKA (Received 30. May, 1977) Abstract. - The zoological and botanical collections made in Tunisia by a group of four research wokers of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. A report of the history of the mission, of the collecting localities, and a detailed list of the collection data. As provided by the Hungarian - Tunisian Culture Agreement, and organized as well as extensively supported by the Institute of Foreign Relations, Budapest, a group of four research workers of the Hungarian Natural History Museum visited Tunisia in the spring of 1977. The heaa of the mission was Dr. S. MAHUNKA (zoologist), the members were Dr. L. GOZMÁNY (zoologist), Dr.A. EMBEYISZTIN (geologist) and Dr. Zs.DEBRECZY (botanist). The aim of the mission was, on the one hand, the collection of animals and plants for the augmentation of the respective Departmental Collections of the Natural History Museum, Budapest, and, on the other, the exploration of the possibilities of further collecting trips and of the most rewarding or suitable localities for this purpose, most rewarding or suitable localities for this purpose. In accordance with the usage followed in the cases of the previous collecting trips made by members of the staff of the Natural History Museum, we submit hereby a report of the history of our mission and also a summary of the main collecting data for the sake of facilitating the scientific elaboration of the collected zoological* material. The present paper gives therefore a brief account of the history and main events of the mission, of the collecting methods applied and their possibilities of application in Tunisia, of the principal collecting localities and our work made there, and it closes with the relevant data taken from our diaries. Tunisia is not one of the zoologically unexplored countries: renowned French (e.g. DUMONT, LUCAS) and Italian (e.g. ROMEI, NORDMANN) collectors worked for many years there. However, the zoological survey of the country can be considered satisfactory with regard only to some animal groups (Mammalia, Aves, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera), while nearly nothing is known concerning some others, e.g. the soil fauna (Acari, Collembola, etc. ). The research workers of the young sovereign state have today the task of solving principally the problems posed by the applied sciences in agriculture, sanitation, etc., and thus basic zoological research and the complete faunistical exploration has hardly commenced yet. The interest of Hungarian zoologists 10 * towards the SW part of the Palaearctic Region, or more strictly towards North Africa, is wellnigh traditional. Recently two larger collecting trips launched Dr. Zs. DEBRECZY proposes to render account of the botanical results in a separate paper. Among our botanists, dr. G. ANDRE ANS ZKY travelled extensively in Tunisia; his papers have considerably added to the cognition of its flora, and also helped our own efforts.
