S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 61. (Budapest, 2000)

Thalhammer'

s thaumaleids and the Thaumaleidae of Hungary (Diptera)* L. Papp and J. Majer Thalhammer's thaumaleids and the Thaumaleidae of Hungary (Diptera) — Thaumaleids in János Thalhammer's collection are discussed, incl. the type of T. thalhammeri Zilahi-Sebess, 1956. T. aperta Martinovsky et Rozkosny, 1976 and T. remota Martinovsky et Rozkosny, 1976 are reported as new for the Hungarian fauna. A list of the other thaumaleid species which are expected to occur in Hungary is also given. With 5 figures. Key words: Thaumaleidae, taxonomy, faunistic list, new records, Hungary. INTRODUCTION Thaumaleidae is one of the families of the worst known nematoceran dipterous flies in Hungary. The old collection of the Budapest Museum, which was annihilated in November 1956, contained a very low number of thaumaleids from the historical Hungary - if any. János Thalhammer had some thaumaleids in his collection but the identity and history of those specimens raised a number of questions. The new collection of the Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest (below: HNHM) had for decades three specimens from the Carpathian Basin, and only one from Hungary of today. In the frame of the project "Large blank spots in the Diptera fauna of Hungary" species representing dipterous families formerly not recorded from Hungary are to be collected and published. As a matter of course, species representing genera not recorded yet and species new for the Hungarian fauna are also targets of our activity. Four years of the project (OTKA T 30242, 1999/2002) comprise a reasonable period of time, for which a fair support is provided for true faunistical studies. The results will hopefully be also included in the "Checklist of the Diptera of Hungary". In 1999, the first year of the project, the senior author collected also a number of thaumaleids in Hungary, which may serve as a basis for answering questions about Thalhammer's thaumaleids and also for a review of those species which may occur in our country. János Thalhammer (1847-1934), a Jesuit priest and grammar school teacher was the first significant collector of Diptera in Hungary. He collected flies in Spain and in * This paper was written for the project "Large blank spots in the Diptera fauna of Hungary", supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA, No. T 30242).