Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 33 (1988) (Pécs, 1989)

Természettudományok - Nógrádi, Sára: The Trichoptera fauna of Szőce and its environs (West Hungary)

THE TRICHOPTERA FAUNA OF SZOCE AND ITS ENVIRONS 27 (WEST HUNGARY) Sára NÓGRÁDI Abstract. The collections ofTrichoptera in 1982-86 yielded 3241 specimens belonging to 84 species from five localities. Complete list is given. Some comments are made on rare or characteristic species. Introduction The flora and fauna of West Hungary are very rich and they differ from the those of the other parts of Hungary in many respects. The first summary of caddisflies of the Western region was published by Újhelyi (1981a). That paper enumerated only 10 Trichoptera species from Szőce. This region has not been unknown for science, since its rather special vegetation had been examined and the results published by Poes et al. (1958). The vegetation is very variegated: peat-bogs, spring-bogs and mesophilous meadows alternate with alder-groves, mixed forests, fir and pine stands. As the annual precipitation is relatively high, reaching about 900 mm, the stream-network is dense and the waters are abundant. The summer water output is fairly good, thus, vegetation is rather fresh all round the year. In the environs of Szőce village a large and thick pebble layer had accumulated in the Quaternary from the fluviatile deposit of the ancient Rába river. Some small stream cut into this layer. Their bed is pebbly in many places. The waters are clear containing few soluted ion, the reaction is acidic, with only a low concentration of calcium ions. The lenght of Szőce stream is a mere few kilometres. Its course is north to south, flowing into the Zala river. Neither agricultural nor inhabited area lies along the upper branches, therefore, its water is not polluted. On the bottom of this valley several spring-bogs have developed. The secondary meadow vegetation on the bottom and sides of the valley is a result of human activity (mowing, cutting of trees and bushes). The bed of the Szőce stream is not regulated, but along the lower branches an artifical pond has been formed a few years ago. The first caddisflies were caught on this area by Á. Uherkovich. This material - 10 species - was published by Újhelyi (1981a). Method and material This paper gives data from five points of the examined area (Fig. 1). Three methods were used for collecting: night capturing by lamp (and sometimes by portable light trap), daytime sweeping and Malaisetrapping. No permanent light trap functionned here. In spite of this fact, a rather large material has been collected, mostly from Szőce. The bulk of material was captured by Á. Uherkovich. The author expresses her sincere thanks to Á. Uherkovich for making this caddisfly material available for study. 1. Night capturing by lamp ("lamping"). In 1982 we had collected on the side of the Szőce valley, then nearby the stream, on the bottom of the valley. 125 or 250 Watt mercury vapour bulbs were used fed by a portable Honda generator (Type E300, later EX500). Behind the lamp a sheet of 8 sq. m. was erected. This method has yielded 370 dW and 703 99 of 63 species at Szőce. Three times we collected at Daraboshegy, far from waters. Here 12 species were captured. Sometimes a portable light trap (Fig. 2) was used at Szőce. As it was also fed by generating set, we could use it only occasionally. One species was captured only in this way. 2. Sweeping. The daytime sweeping by a butterfly net was very effective usually. Some species were caught by this method only. The individual number of some species was very high (Agapetus fuscipes Curt., Chaetopteryx fusca Brau., Ch. rugulosa Kol., Lithax obscurus Hag., Notidobia ciliaris L., Beraea maurus Curt., B. pullata Curt., see also Table 1). This method was applied mostly at Szőce, but on other three sites, too. At Szőce 1119 dV and 358 99 of 22 species were swept. 3. Malaise-trap. In 1986 Dr Sándor Tóth erected a Malaise-trap along the Szőce stream mostly for dipterological purpose. The caddisflies of this material was given to me, therefore, I express my sincere thanks to him. 67 dV and 187 9 9 of 21 species were collected by the trap from May 4 till October 4. Two species were collected by this way only. Altogether 84 species were collected of a total of 3241 specimens (1903 males and 1338 females). A Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 33 (1988): 27-33. Pécs, Hungária, 1989.