S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 56. (Budapest, 1995)

Report on a collecting trip to Vietnam in 1994 S. Mahunka, Gy. Sziráki and L. Zombori Report on a collecting trip to Vietnam in 1994 - A preliminary report and an annotated list of collecting localities of the expedition are given. Hungarian scientific research in Asia and the Far East has a long standing tradition. Our studies have never been restricted to one special field but a great variety of topics have been cultivated. Inspite of the two hundred years of Hungarian research history in Asia our first zoological expedition to Vietnam was completed only in 1966. Since then several similar trips were organized. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the National Centre of Scientific Research of Vietnam have so far substantially supported on the basis of cultural relations regular exchanges of researchers of the two countries. We have established excellent connections with the Institute of Biology in Da Lat, which we visited the second time. Hereby we feel obliged to thank dr. Trinh Quang, director of the International Cooperation Department of the National Centre, for his kind efforts in realizing our trip. In 1995 the above scientific bodies of the two countries again plan to sign a bilateral agreement to further previous research. With a view to this act we should like to formulate our ideas of future zoological research work in Vietnam. 1. A thorough survey of terrestrial animals with special regard to the invertebrate fauna: Heteroptera and Homoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera; 2. a survey of aquatic ecosystems: Odonata, Trichoptera and Plecoptera; 3. a survey of soil invertebrates with special emphasis on Arachnoidea. In the year of 1994 we spent 15 days in Vietnam (1st—15th of December). Although we made some rather scanty collectings in Saigon (Ho Shi Minh City) our efforts were concentrated on Da Lat and its environs, where we were the guests of dr. Nguyen Dang Khoi, director of the Institute of Biology in Da Lat (Vietnam National Centre for Natural Science and Technology). Also at this place we should like to thank him for his understanding and excellent abilities in organizing our trips and for his natural endowments in culinary art. Special thanks are due to Miss Nguyen Thang Lang, who several times escorted and continuously helped us during our field works. Apparently the time period chosen was particularly favourable for some groups of insects, understandably for others (like Hymenoptera: Symphyta) it was wholly unsuccessful. Perhaps it is interesting to mention that according to travelling guides this time of the year is rather clear in Da Lat, meaning that 8 days out of 10 are sunny. While we * Hungarian zoological studies in Vietnam. No. 21.