Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)

Phylum Arthropoda 115 cies can be found in the list. The species most characteristic of the Őrség fauna are species native almost exclusively to the western part of Hungary, such as Cicindela transversalis, Carabus arcensis, Nebria livida, Bembidion doris, Pterostichus transversalis and Platynus scrobiculatus. The wetter climate of the area favours upland species, whose numbers there are relatively high, and they occur there at much lower altitudes than elsewhere in the country. The upland and forest species found are Cicindela silvicola, Carabus glabratus, C. intricatus, Cychrus attenuatus, C. caraboides, Leistus piceus, Bembidion stephensi, B. tibiale, Harpalus marginellus, Molops elatus, Abax parallelus, Lebia marginata and Aptinus bombarda. Most of the collections were made in conifer associations or deciduous woodland, or on or near the banks of the Rába, in damp-loving plant associations. This explains the high number of damploving species found. The collection at the Mátra Museum in Gyöngyös contains many species of ground beetle collected in the West Hungarian border region. The records of these specimens can be found in an article about the museum's ground-beetle collection (HEGYESSY and SZÉL 2002). The first Hungarian specimens of Nebria rufescens were found in Western Hungary (at Kőszeg, Felsőcsatár and Dunakiliti). Its discovery in the Szigetköz arose out of the monitoring done after the construction of the Gabcikovo barrage scheme on the Danube. The diversions of water made in 1993-4 dried out much of the bed of the Danube branch bounding the Szigetköz to the north and produced a habitat found in Hungary only here and there along the Rába and the Upper Tisza. The irrigated gravelly soil revealed species such as N. livida, which are rare in Hungary. An example of N. rufescens also appeared in 1994. As the water level receded, much of the bed that became dry acquired a coverage of vegetation and the habitat for such typical upland waterside fauna was practically lost in the Szigetköz. However, there is still a strong population of the species breeding near Felsőcsatár, on the right bank of the River Pinka. There the beetles are quite common right beside the water, among damp stones, rotting tree trunks and damp litter (NAGY and MERKL 2002). GYŐZŐ SZÉL compiled a list of the ground beetles collected in Turkey oakwood (SZÉL and KORSÓS 2000) and a thorn plant association (SZÉL and KORSÓS 2001) near Tömörd. A notable find was Bembidion obtusum. Collections in the Fertő-Hanság National Park in 1992-2001 yielded 243 ground-beetle species. Previously, intensive collections had been made in the Kapuvár district by SEY OTTÓ. His specimens have special significance because the habitats he visited have been strongly degraded or destroyed altogether. Two species new to the Hungarian fauna, Acupalpus notatus and Amara littorea, have been found in the national park. The number of more or less rare and sporadic species is very high, due mainly to the saline biotopes in the surroundings of Fertő. The species concerned are Cicindela littoralis, Carabus clathratus, C. hungaricus, C. problematicus, C. scabriusculus, Notiophilus laticollis, Blethisa multipunctata, Elaphrus cupreus, Clivina ypsilon, Dyschirius extensus, D. pusillus, D. strumosus, Trechus obtusus, Tachys bisulcatus, T. fulvicollis, Pogonus luridipennis, P. persicus, Bembidi-