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

sugar baits was fluctuated strongly, depending on the aspects, the actual weather conditions and the habitats but were regularly not very successful. The weather conditions were rather bad during the first period, even when the day was sunny and relatively warm as the temperature was fallen rapidly just after the sunset and the open, cloudless evenings with large or full moon turned regularly into cold or even frosty nights. The flight of the nocturnal insects was relatively intensive at the twilight and in early evening but reduced quickly and almost stopped about two hours after the sunset; only a few moths came to the light. The moonshine was the greatest problem during our stay in Cheju where the temperature was often higher, especially in the medium high elevations where we could take samples from the zonal deciduous forest regions. Unfortunately we have not get the permission for the nocturnal collectings at the highest ranges (the Betula-Abies zone, the moist subalpine meadows and bogs, etc.) due to risks of the movement on the bad pathways and cliffs, therefore the most intact zones being presumably the richest in endemisms, remained as unknown for us. Originally we hoped to study the early spring aspects of the fauna of Korea but the period selected was a bit too late for this aim. Most of the characteristic genera of this season were represented by relatively few species and the majority of the specimens had already been worn. The composition of the Noctuidae fauna (the lists of the species collected is given in each locality) clearly shows this special mixture of the latest members of the early spring fauna and the freshly emerged specimens of the late spring species. On the other hand, the total number of the collected species is rather high, and the material contains some new species the descriptions of which will be published in subsequent papers. Acknowledgements - We would like to express our gratitute to the KOSEF and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest for their kind support of the joint expedition. Our sincere thanks to the Korean colleagues, Prof. Dr. Y. J. Kwon, Dr. E. Y. Huh and Dr. Park (Taegu), Dr. B. K. Byun and Mr. R. D. Kwon (Chuncheon), Dr. S. B. Ahn (Suweon), Prof. Dr. J. C. Paik (Suncheon) and the colleagues of the Cheju Museum for their very important help in every respect during our stay in the Republic of Korea. We are indebted to Dr. V. S. Kononenko (Vladivostok, Russia) for his kind cooperation and to Ms Erika Ágoston (HAS, Budapest) for her important and kind help in the management organization of our jouney. The research programme on the taxonomy and zoogeography of Noctuidae was supported by the National Scientific Research Fund (OTKA, No. 3181). Abbreviations Chil. = Chilopoda Dip. = Diptera Isop. = Isopoda Hym. = Hymenoptera Trich. = Trichoptera Col. Dipl Het. Plec Coleoptera Diplopoda Heteroptera Plecoptera