S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 46/2. (Budapest, 1985)

Egypt (EZZAT, 1982), Italy (TR ANF AG LIA, 1982), Poland (KOTE JA, 1974), Turkey (DÜZGÜNES, 1982), Tadzhik SSR (USSR) (BAZAROV, 1983), Ukrainian SSR (USSR) (TEREZNIKOVA, 1975a). Further species-lists by PANIS (1981, Mediterranean Basin), SCHMUTTERER (1980, FRG), TREMBLAY (1981, Italy) and ZAHRADNIK (1977, CSSR), and recent monographs by BAZAROV and SMELEV (1971), DANZIG (1980), HADZIBEJLI (1983), HOWELL and KOSZTARAB (1972), KAWAI (1980), KOSZTARAB and KOZÁR (1978), LAMBDIN and KOSZTARAB (1973, 1977), MILLER (1975), PAIK (1978), SCHMUTTERER (1980), TANG (1977), TEREZNIKOVA (1975b, 1981), TER-GRIGORIAN (1973), WANG (1982b), and YANG (1982) were all at our disposal. In case of synonyms significant assistance was gained from works synthetizing data on related areas: MATILE-FERRERO (1976, 1978), NAKAHARA (1981), NAKAHARA and MILLER (1981), TAO (1978). The following publications were regarded as authentic for the higher taxonomic categories: MORRISON and MORRISON, 1966; RUSSELL, 1970; KOSZTARAB and RUSSELL, 1974; WILLIAMS, 1969; KOTEJA, 1974; KOSZTARAB, 1982. For the use of species' names the last revisions and monographs published were taken into consideration. Thus, synonyms can also be found in the literature cited, in addition to this, the authors are ready to give further information in dubious instances. In case of new combinations, whenever there was a chance to do it, the holotype or other type-material, original species descriptions, and figures were examined. After completing the check-list, 1938 species were included in the list of Palaearctic species. This proved to be 800 more than that published ( 1100) by BORCHSENIUS (1950) and 400 more than the number given by EASTOP (1978) on the basis of the collections in the British Museum of Natural History (see Table 1). As some new species have meanwhile been described in almost each family, the number of species became considerably higher. However, in case of the family Coccidae the number of species given by EASTOP (1978) was higher. In our opinion, this is due to the fact that several dozens of synonyms, established earlier, are still considered valid in the collection. During the preparation of the check-list the genera Longicoccus Tang, 1977, and Baîachowskya Gómez-Menor, 1956, as well as the species Trionymus orientális Matesova, 1968, proved to be homonyms, therefore they were given new names. A new combination was necessary for 98 species as the earlier one became obsolete. Taking part in the formation of the new combination 39 species came from the family Pseudococcidae, 38 from Eriococcidae, and 21 from Asterolecaniidae. For several species, the new combination means merely a more contemporary taxonomic position and the systematic position is not clarified once and for all, because of obstacles such as the lack of availability of type-material, or the necessity of revisions not yet performed at generic level. Comparing the number of species in the Palaearctic Region (Table 1) with that of the world (EASTOP, 1978; KOSZTARAB, 1982), it appears that one-third of the species are known from the Palaearctic Region, although there are substantial deviations in families: the members of the family Micrococcidae were found so far only in the Palaearctic Region, while those of the family Beesoniidae occur also there. Relatively high proportions are present also from the Kermesidae and Asterolecaniidae. Representatives of some specialized families (e.g. Apiomorphidae, Stictococcidae) are totally absent from the Palaearctic Region, or occur only in low proportions, such as the Ortheziidae, Lacciferidae, Halimococcidae, Conchaspididae. One gets the impression that the number of species even from the family Coccidae is quite low, which probably refers to the neglected status of the family. However, concerning synonyms and invalid names the present day world species number seems unproportionally large. To sum up, it might be stated that the extent of research performed so far within the Palaearctic scale insects seems satisfactory. However, the discovery and description of new species can continuously be expected in all families in the future. It is also probable that it will become more ardous to find new species as they may live on rarely studied plant species or on specific plant parts. There are many large and hitherto not much studied areas even in the Palaearctic (e.g. the Mediterranean Basin, North-Africa with the exception of Egypt, Middle Asia with the exception of the USSR, much of China, etc.), where research has been carried out only on single families (very often only on the family of Diaspididae). The authors are fully avare that, similarly to other specieslists, the present one is also not free from insufficiencies. Nevertheless, it is hoped that even in its present form it may help both specialits and applied entomologists to gain a better taxonomic insight into the group, to use a more uniform language, and to promote a better understanding of scientists working in the same field. The authors regret that they were unable to find a solution to meet every one's expectations.