Hungarian National Museum

Abstract The study deals with the bronze daggers from Western Hungary, Transdanubia, dated to the Late Bronze Age (Br B2–Ha B3) according to local research traditions, originating from hoards, graves, settlements, rivers, and as isolated finds. These artefacts were documented as part of the research program ‘Technology, Use, and Manipulation of Late Bronze Age Transdanubian Weapons’ conducted between 2020 and 2024. The work presents these daggers as comprehensively as possible from a typo-chronological perspective, complemented by use-wear analysis results, which provide new information about the manufacturing technology, purpose, and intentional breakage of the tools studied based on their macroscopic and microscopic traces.

The first spider records of Batanta, Birie, and Arefi islands, Raja Ampat, Indonesia are presented in this study. Three new species in the genus Canama Simon, 1903, Canama horobi sp. nov. (male), Canama limagigi sp. nov. (male) and Canama wanita sp. nov. (female) are described. Two Indonesian salticids, originally placed in Bathippus Thorell, 1892 and known from their original descriptions only, Bathippus dentiferellus Strand, 1911 and Bathippus seltuttensis Strand, 1911, are redescribed and illustrated. Due to their morphological similarity to the type species, three new combinations have been proposed: Canama dentiferellus (Strand, 1911), comb. nov., Canama seltuttensis (Strand, 1911), comb. nov. and Canama dilanians (Thorell, 1881), comb. nov. To confirm the phylogenetic placement of the new species, we carried out a small phylogenetic analysis with three genetic markers: 28S, ND1/16S, and COI, with a final alignment of 3314 nucleotides. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian results confirmed their firm placement within Canama. With 10 new sequences, 49 original images and a distribution map.

Investigating long-term archaeological land-use patterns is crucial for understanding how past populations adjusted settlement strategies, resource exploitation, and communication networks in response to environmental and climatic variability. Recent quantitative archaeological research has provided important insights into long-term spatio-temporal social transformations in the Carpathian Basin. Yet the diachronic relationships between communication networks and environmental and climatic changes remain poorly understood. To fill this gap, we present a standardized, transparent, and replicable framework to compare relative connectivity across distinct site-distribution patterns, using a center–periphery model derived from custom network analyses spanning the Neolithic to the Hungarian Conquest period (∼8000–1000 BP). We develop and present climatically adjusted and simulated movement networks based on spatially clustered centers, emphasising high site intensities and travel cost efficiency derived from a weighted walking friction model incorporating topography and hydrology. We further compare land-use patterns and socio-ecological persistence with crop cultivation strategies based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from human and animal remains. Our results show period-specific differences in centre–periphery structures and accessibility inequalities, alongside changing associations between archaeological footprints and descriptive environmental classes. These patterns are consistent with repeated reorganisation under changing environmental conditions, rather than with a uniform response to environmental change.

Abstract Muscari species are widely cultivated, popular ornamental plants in Europe, but are susceptible to rust fungi, which can substantially reduce their aesthetic value and overall fitness. In May 2023, characteristic rust fungus-like symptoms were observed on M. armeniacum plants in Solymár (Hungary). The causal agent, designated as isolate UmHu2, was identified as Uromyces muscari based on morphological studies and results of molecular phylogenetic analyses, which included three reference specimens from Hungary and one from Canada collected on other Muscari species. Features of the rust infections and spores produced were consistent with previous descriptions. Sequences generated four gene regions, ITS and LSU rDNA, β-tubulin and translation elongation factor 1-alpha, showed 98-100 % identity and grouped with strong support together in multi-gene maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses with selected Pucciniaceae rusts. Pathogenicity was confirmed by artificial inoculation of healthy M. armeniacum plants. Microscopic investigation and sequencing verified consistency with the inoculum, thereby fulfilling Koch's postulates. Cross-infection experiments demonstrated that U. muscari isolates from different Muscari species are genus-specific but not species-specific. To our knowledge, this is the first report of U. muscari infecting M. armeniacum in Hungary.

In this paper, we describe two new genera and three new species in the planthopper tribe Pentastirini Emeljanov, 1971 (Hemiptera: Cixiidae: Pentastirinae) from Southeast Asia. The genus Pteroprocessusgen. nov. is established for Pteroprocessusnabhitabhataigen. et sp. nov. from Trang Province, Thailand, along with the description of Pteroprocessusobscurinervisgen. et sp. nov. from Yunnan Province, China. Indolipabinghami (Distant, 1911) is transferred to the newly established genus based on external morphological homologies and the new combination Pteroprocessusbinghami (Distant, 1911) gen. et comb. nov. is proposed. In addition, a new genus, Philippinarusgen. nov. is proposed for Philippinarusgranulatus (Muir, 1924) gen. et comb. nov., and a second species, Philippinarustarandiformisgen. et sp. nov. is described from the Philippines.

Abstract A new exhibition centred around the 3D, 1:1 scale artistic reconstruction of the hypothetical Jurassic dinosaurs that left Komlosaurus carbonis isp. footprints and track sites (Hettangian, Early Jurassic) in the deltaic facies of the Mecsek Mountains (South Hungary, Central Europe) is introduced. It provided the core theme of a geoheritage concept around the South Hungarian town of Komló. This exhibition (Komlóverzum Visitor Centre, later KVC) and geoheritage visitor site is a successful cultural shift of the old coal mining background of the town into a modern ‘geoheritage’ site of appeal to the public. The concept is realised in three new dinosaur sculptures located in a newly created palaeoenvironmental diorama based on the latest research, including dinosaur bodies, nests, translucent eggs, and illuminated embryos. Parallel to the installation, a complete renovation and refurbishment of the old museum and library building have taken place, which endorse the dinosaur sculptures. Subsidiary attractions are also displayed, portraying the other geoheritage elements of the mountains from the Triassic to the Quaternary. One year after the opening, the local community was confronted with the warm welcome and success of the KVC being a national tourist attraction and gaining national recognition. However, KVC is not only a dinosaur and palaeontological attraction. It also displays the coal mining past of the town and other outstanding geological and geoheritage features of the region, forming the basis for continued heritage adventures. KVC is the core and a seed of a broader initiative: the Mecsek GeoPark, a geoheritage park to be formed.

A rezgőnyárszitkár – Eusphecia melanocephala (Dalman, 1816) Magyarországon igen ritka faj, mely hazánkból eddig csak röpnyílások és hernyók alapján volt ismert a Gerecséből, az Őrségből és Somogy vármegyéből. Budapest belvárosában, a VIII. kerületi Horánszky utcában 2023.VI.18-án egy nőstény példány bukkant fel, amely begyűjtés után a Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum gyűjteményében került elhelyezésre. Jelenlegi ismereteink szerint a fajnak ez az első imágója, melyet Magyarországon megfigyeltek. A példányt valószínűleg véletlenül hurcolták be Budapest belvárosába.