S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 30/2. (Budapest, 1977)
by the Hungarian Natural History Museum had been made in this area (Egypt: 1957; Algeria:(1973), Tunisia was the very first among the Nort African countries visited by a Hungarian zoologist to collect animals: there is a considerable material in the Museum collected in Tunisia, even in some outlying localities according to the evidence of the labels, by L.Biró and others. F.ZILAHY, senior technician of the Museum, also visited and collected animals in Tunisia (1970). It goes without saying that the material thus randomly gained by the Museum is, in general, insufficient for comparative purposes in taxonomical research, Indeed, many animal groups are not at all represented in it. We have therefore been delighted to avail ourselves of the opportunity offered by the Institute of Foreign Relations, to collect natural history materials in Tunisia. Travelling via Paris, we arrived with an equipment of 180 kg on 21 March, 1977, In Tunis, where representatives of the Hungarian Embassy and of the Institute National Agronomique Tunisienne (INAT), responsible for the local organisation of our collecting trip, received us. From this point onwards we have been in the care of the Institute, and the success of our mission is largely to be thanked to the efforts of those of our colleagues on the staff of the INAT who have splendidly resolved the very considerable burden of financial and personal tasks set upon them. True, this was made possible, among others, by the fact that the Institute has also well organized research bases in the field, consisting of various kinds of agricultural schools and training colleges. Thus the local authorities could always supply us with one, and if needed with two, cars of the landrover type, guides, accommodations - usually also with laboratory facilities - and naturally also complete board. The fixed location of our quarters have, of course, modified our previously planned Itinerary to some extent, but it is also to be thanked to this circumstance that we have been able to cover more than 5000 km by car in the country and that we could sample the flora and fauna of nearly every characteristic region of the country. In selecting the date of our arrival, we have considered partly the meteorological main data, partly the reports of other collecting trips. As far as these were concerned, there should have been late' spring to early summer when we landed in Tunisia. Unfortunately, this year proved to be more than anomalous: the usually cold and precipitous late winter weather failed to come about and at the time of our arrival a drought of already several weeks standing had afflicted the country, with temperatures 6-10 C° higher than the average. As a further misfortune, this period was followed, a few days after our arrival, by its very opposite in character (beginning with 28 March), an unusually cold and rainy weather. Indeed, heavy storms impeded our work especially In El Kef, but there were days also In Sfax when evening (8 p.m.) temperatures fell below 12 C°, and we had two rainy days even in Degache. This weather had naturally greatly obstructed the collecting of insects (netting by day and lighting by night). We took the following route in Tunisia (some of the more important detours given in brackets): Tunis - El Kef (El Kef - Ain Draham, El Kef - Sakiet, El Kef - Jendouba) - Maktar - Kalrouan Boughrara - El Djem, (Bounghrara - Cekhira) - Gafsa - Degache (Degache - Nefta, Degache - Kriz) - Gafsa - Kasserine - Sbeitla - Kairouan - Sbikha - Tunis (Tunis - la Goulette). The time lost in the capital in the unavoidable administration concerning arrival and departure took no more than five days, thanks to the exceptionally effective preliminary and organizational work of the INAT hence the main bulk of our time could be spent in the field. The evaluation of the collected material is greatly helped by information on the natural geography, climate, and vegetation of the country. Flora and fauna are significantly influenced by the basic substrate, the geological formations situated near the surface.* In Tunisia, there are generally sedimentary rocks on or near the surface. In the North, in the environs of El Kef as well as between El Kef and Ain Draham, the Atlas mountains terminate in some spurs of 700-1200 m a.s.l. The rocks are sedimentary, of a maritime origin, deposited first in the Upper Cretaceous then in the Eocene, and consist mainly of limestone, interspersed in the Eocene by glauconitic sandstone, nummulitic lime marl and marly limestone. Sedimentations of a fluvial origin began in the Quaternary, but they are today delimited to the restricted areas of the sandy to pebbly depositions in the river valleys. The geological information was compiled by Dr.A .EMBEY-ISZTIN«
