Ábrahám Levente: Válogatott tanulmányok II. - Natura Somogyiensis 9. (Kaposvár, 2006)

Uherkovich Ákos - Nógrádi Sára: Caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the Mecsek Mountains, South Hungary - A Mecsek hegység tegzesei (Trichoptera)

300 NATURA SOMOGYIENSIS Discussion 1. Up today we got to know occurrence of 98 caddisfly species from the Mecsek Mountains. Thus we consider a relative poor region in caddisflies. For example we have to mention, that 97 species are known from the small Kőszeg (Günser) Mountains (NÓGRÁDI, UHERKOVICH 1992); while 108 species both from the Bükk Mountains and from Aggtelek National Park (both in North Hungary, NÓGRÁDI et al. 1996, 1999). The number of species can be very high in some lower region, e.g. along the Dráva (Drau) river we took 113 species (NÓGRÁDI, UHERKOVICH 1998, UHERKOVICH 2005), while in the Szigetköz (NE Hungary) we have captured 87 species up to recently (UHERKOVICH, NÓGRÁDI 2001). The Szatmár-Bereg Plain (NE Hungary) proved to be the richest region of the Great Hungarian Plain, there 74 species occured (UHERKOVICH, NÓGRÁDI 1988). 2. It already came to light in the beginning of out trichopterological examination, that an earlier undescribed taxon lives in the Mecsek Mountains. It was introduced by the name Chaetopteryx schmidi mecsekensis Nógrádi, 1986 (MALICKY et. al 1986). This taxon - a subspecies of a very dinamically developing species occuring in the SE Alps and in the Southern Carpathians - remained in an isolated place and it developed as an independent subspecies. The population of this unflightable species cannot be in any connection of the others, thus it developed in its own way and adapted the factors of this environment: small, cool, permanent afforested valley mostly on limestome. Very probably a very close relative was found in the latter years in Croatia, it was Malicky's oral presentation not long ago. Maybe these two populations had a common area in the past, but some thousand years ago it was divided into two parts by the change of climate and vegetations. It could isolate from other subspecies (Ch. schmidi schmidi Botosaneau, 1957, Ch. schmidi noricum Malicky, 1976) earlier. Its valid name recently changed to Chaetopteryx rugulosa mecskensis Nógrádi, 1986 by Malicky's (2004) "Atlas" and one of his papers (MALICKY 2005). The survive of this endemism was possibile by the high adaptation of these population, the continuous forest covering, the relative cool and moderate, equalized climate. Recently this species is strictly protected to a marker degree, the natural protection authority tries to do careful of its biotopes. Many, small metapopulations live in the area, and in our last visit (November 2004) we still saw many adults walking along the brooks and springs. As it is an endemism, we consider that it the most valuable member of Hungarian caddisfly fauna. 3. Beside the above taxon further three species were found firstly in the Mecsek Mountains. The first Hungarian Synagapetus krawanyi Ulmer adults were swept here (Nógrádi 1984b), it was collected later in the Kőszeg Mountains (NÓGRÁDI, UHERKOVICH 1989). The firrst Hungarian Potamophylax luctuosus Pill, et Mitt. (NÓGRÁDI 1984b) and Plectrocnemia minima Klap. (NÓGRÁDI 1992) was collected first also in Mecsek Mountains. While P. luctuosus was found again in the Kőszeg Mountains, moreover along the Dráva (Drau) river (cf. NÓGRÁDI, UHERKOVICH 1998), the extremely rare, Eastern Balkanian P. minima was collected again after eight years, again only a male, in another site not far from the first catch (NÓGRÁDI 1998).