O. Merkl szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 66. (Budapest, 2005)

A checklist of the Braconidae of Hungary (Hymenoptera) J. PAPP Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum H-1088 Budapest, Baross utca 13, Hungary Abstract - The first braconid species were reported from Hungary by MOCSÁR Y in 1876. SzÉPLIGETI was the first specialist studying the braconid fauna of historic Hungary. In the years 1896-1903 he reported about 400 braconid species in his ten papers. These contributions and other sources served for the first checklist of the Hungarian braconids (and other wasps) by MOCSÁRY in 1897. ZlLAHlKlSS and GYŐRFI continued the exploration of the Hungarian braconids during the first half of the 20th century. The investigation of national parks and nature reserves of Hungary considerably increased our knowledge of braconids during the latter half of the 20th century. A total of 1798 braconid species are listed in the present checklist. Key words - Braconidae, history, specialists, taxa, checklist. INTRODUCTION The first braconid species have been reported by S. MOCSÁRY (1841-1915) from the historical Hungary, e.g. "Bracon mactator Germ." (= Iphiaulax mactator KLUG) from Homonna (= Humenné, Zemplén county, since 1920 Slovakia) and from Püspökfürdő, Beel (= Beliu, Bihar county, since 1920 Romania: Transylvania); "Disophrys inculpator NEES" (= Disophrys caesa KLUG), "Gymnoscelus tardator NEES" (= Helcon tardator NEES) from Nagyvárad (= Oradea, Transylvania), Debrecen, Fácános (MOCSÁRY 1876a, b). The exploration of the braconid and ichneumonid fauna of Europe (as well as the temperate and tropical continents) started to flourish in the last decades of the 19th century. In Hungary GY. SZÉPLIGETI (1855-1915), encouraged by MOCSÁRY (first curator of the Hymenoptera Section of the Hungarian Natural History Museum), specialized in braconid (and ichneumonid) wasps, and during the last