June 1996 25 Dr. A. Kaltenbach, Vienna, in 1989; and No. 5 (8 pp. including a brief bibliogra­ ed in his collections and papers, dating then in 1989, 1992 and 1993 identified phy). Nearly 600 species are listed, of from 1910 to 1934. These concern fau­ collections of micro-hymenoptera from which sphecids number 185 species of nistic studies and biology of various Dr. J. T. Huber, Canadian National Col­ 58 genera. However, actual specimens of sphecids held total only 100 exam­ ples of 51 species. Although the ONHM Collection is small, it is a start! Our aim is to develop it into a national reference collection, as for other groups. It is clear that there is great scope for further collecting in the Sultanate. The fauna is surprisingly rich, with many species which are rare groups and the description of a number lection of Insects (CNC),Ottawa, Cana­ da, who visited Oman in February 1986 and has given me much encouragement. A representative collection of mosqui­ tos (Diptera: Culicidae) came from R. Irving-Bell in 1991. Other visitors in­ cluded J.C. Deeming, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, UK, who set out the reference collection of Diptera and Hem­ iptera in 1990 and 1992. In this period we also set up reference collections of Lepidoptera, Thysanura, ants and some other groups. of species, mainly Eumeninae (Vespi­ dae), but also Polistinae, Masarinae, Sphecinae and Trigonalyidae. Around the 30's he moved to Asun­ cion to work with the Ministry of Agricul­ ture, bringing a part of his collection and eventually depositing it in the base­ ment of the Banco Agricola (now Ban­ co de Fomento) where Winkelried had in collections. For instance, males of the rare genus of sphecids, Heterogyna, are his last office. That collection was said often collected at light, but no females have been found. Like others, this small been considered lost by most foreign entomologists. to be there after his death and had More recently, many sphecid speci­ Museum is constrained by lack of time, The story is not clear, but recently mens were identified and others donat­ expertise and funds, and of specialists Blanca Barrios of the Museo Nacional de ed by K. M. Guichard in 1994; he had visited the Sultanate in 1976 and 1977 with time to help determine the collec­ Historia Natural del Paraguay (MNHNP) discovered that the I nstituto Agronomi­ (see Profile in Sphecos 4: 7). Dr. W. leaflet, which has led to further interest Schneider visited in 1994 to set out the among the public, and to help by Oma­ tions. Our work is publicised in a free co Nacional (IAN) in Caacupe had a collection of A. W. Bertoni's. He asked collection of Odonata, and Dr. M. W. nis and volunteer Friends of the Mu­ Balkenohl revised our large collection seum in processing collections for study. of Coleoptera in October 1995. A re­ Any reader who wishes to consult the mens Bertoni, Winkelried's nephew and cent acquisition is a collection of in­ Collection, or who would be interested Director of the MNHNP at that time, to sects (including 30 Aculeate Hymenop­ in accepting groups for determination investigate what happened to the col­ tera) by Dr. Michael Gillett, United Arab and return - or who wishes to visit lection in the Banco de Fomento. He Emirates University, AI Ain, Abu Dhabi, from nearby Oman since 1993. Oman to collect more, is invited to write found that the collection was no longer to: The Director, Natural History Mu­ there and nobody knew where it was. seum, at the above address or fax 968.602735. Agriculture. Was it possible that the Many smaller collections of Hyme­ noptera have been made over the for and obtained this collection for the MNHNP. Early this year I asked Sie­ Suspicions then fell on the Ministry of IAN collection was the one from Banco de Fomento that was missing? That years - and continue to be made - by residents and visitors. Some specimens are mounted and retained unidentfied, The Collection of Arnaldo de suspicion has in part been confirmed but most of the small specimens are Winkelried Bertoni sent to J. T. Huber at CNC, where they by by me because the MNHNP collection now contains types of most, and possi­ are currently being examined by him, Bolivar R. Garcete Barrett bly and hopefully all, of the species of and by several other specialists such Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del as J. LaSalle (Eulophidae), L. Masner (Piatygastroidea), J. Sharkey (bracon­ ids), and D. Wahl (lchneumonidae); ma­ terial is also in the care of Dr. D. J. Brothers (South Africa) and Dr. L. Kim­ sey (California). Other names on det la­ bels on Museum specimens include C. van Achterberg, Z. Soucek, J. C. Deem­ ing, A. T. Finnamore, G. Gibson, J. S. Noyes, A. Polaszek, W. J. Pulawski, and H. Townes. With their excellent support and that of the collectors the collection of parasitic and Aculeate Hymenoptera now occupies eight drawers, which are for Sphecidae. two of A list of species of the parasitic and Aculeate Hymenoptera of Oman has been prepared by me; based on the Collection and on published accounts it was edited by John Huber, Woj Pulaw­ Oman Natural History Museum Check-list ski and Arnold Menke. This is Paraguay, Sucursal 1 Campus, Ciudad Universitaria, Central XI, San Lorenzo PARAGUAY Arnalda de Winkelried Bertoni, born in Switzerland, belonged to a great family dedicated to science. His father, the naturalist Moises Santiago Bertoni, founded Colonia Guillemno Tell, after­ wards called Puerto Bertoni, on the Par­ aguayan side of the River Parana, in the middle of the jungle. This site is now called the Monumento Cientiflco Moises S. Bertoni. Here Winkelried, under the influence of his father, took great inter­ est in zoology, resulting in a museum of zoology with an important collection. In Puerto Bertoni he published a num­ ber of works on birds, reptiles, mam­ mals, and insects of Paraguay. Among the insects he had a special love for ac­ uleate Hymenoptera, and this is reflect- Vespidae described by Winkelried. How­ ever, it may be that Winkelried Bertoni himself gave this collection to people in the IAN. On the other hand, Puerto Bertoni still has its museum and there are still wasps there, as well as other insects, deteriorating because of the poor con­ dition of the building and the climate of the place itself. It is very fortunate that in the MNHNP the vespid collection is in good shape, but I hope to unify the whole collection, deposit it here and begin to study it with the help of anyone else who is interested. But there are some difficulties: people in the Ministry of Ag­ riculture show no real understanding of the importance of museum work and have little interest in moving the Bertoni collection to a national museum where it would be available to the scientific community. Because of this we have a 26 SPHECOS30 limited supply of material and cabinets for the collection; this is the one thing limiting my work with the Bertoni collec­ Subancistrocerus albocinctus (p. 127128); o holotype in ANIC; paratypes (1 'i', 1 o) in LACM and MCSN (1 tion at the moment. I need to expand it o). into secure boxes because the original A. Snelling as cited. Collector is R. R. Snelling, not R. ones are very small, without chemical protection, and the specimens are crowd­ ed together. In August I submitted a proposal for deposit it in the MNHNP, but I faced great difficulties because of the prob­ the MNHNP, I hope to save at least the type material and other important spec­ ply this technique to Hymenoptera, spe­ Australodynerus unipunctatus (p. 139140); 'i' holotype in ANIC; 'i' para­ type in MCSN. versity, they reported on the success of Anterhynchium (Epiodynerus) tamaninum (sic!) ssp. septentrionalis (p. 145); 'i' holotype in ANIC; paratypes (2 'i', 1 the mounting of fig wasps, and chalcids critical point drying for SEM prepara­ tion. Together with Rob Cross of the Electron Microscopy Unit at Rhodes Uni­ this treatment for the preparation of Agaonidae (Ware & Cross, 1989). I have been using the technique for collection we now have in the MNHNP o) in LACM and MCSN (1 'i'). Type locality is Headquarters, Kakadu Na­ will stay here, and that is very fortunate tional Park, NT. imens. It is clear, nevertheless, that the ed Rhodes University fig team, headed by Steve Compton, was the first to ap­ cifically fig wasps, as an alternative to lems mentioned above. If it is not possi­ ble to deposit the whole collection in Hemiptera and Anoplura for SEM prep­ aration. Tony Ware of the now disband­ Syneuodynerus aurantiacus (p. 134135); 'i' holotype in ANIC; 'i' para­ type in MCSN. a project to save the insect collection of the museum of Puerto Bertoni and to technique to representatives of Diptera, in general, for several years now. This includes both specimens preserved in alcohol (under sub-optimal conditions) for twenty plus years and freshly col­ lected material from Malaise traps, yel­ low pan traps etc. The method works because it is the most important part of the collection of A. W. Bertoni. At the equally well for old and freshly collect­ moment people helping with this pro­ ed material and is particularly useful for ject, apart from me and John Kochalka families with weakly sclerotised or small in the MNHNP, are Jim Carpenter, Ar­ representatives. More recently I have nold Menke and Abraham Willink. I hope subjected proctos (s.l.), cynipoids, ich­ people abroad will take interest in this neumonoids and smaller sized acu­ project and will be able to help us at least with information about points of which we are not aware, and if some­ one is interested in helping with materi­ als or funding please write to me. leates, such as dryinids to this treat­ ALTERNATIVES TO CRITICAL POINT DRYING OF SPECIMENS [Reprinted frorn Chalcid Forum 18, 1995] ment, with equal success. A colleague, Hamish Robertson, applies the tech­ nique successfully to ants. Many chal­ cids and proctos, being strongly scler­ otised, do not really require this special treatment. I apply it as a matter of Correct Type Depositories for course, in an attempt to preclude any Eumenine Wasps Described by possibility of antenna! or compound eye A. Giordani Soika 1993 (1991): Contributo alia conoscenze degli Eumenidi dell' Australia e della Nuova Guinea (Hym. Vespoidea) Boll. Mus. civ. St. nat. Venezia 42:125-149 by Roy R. Snelling Natural History Museum of L. A. Co., 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles , California 90007 The following species were described frorn material that I collected in Austra­ lia in 1988. Although I had indicated in my cover letter to Soika that the types were to be deposited in the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC), he cited all as deposited in the LACM. The following primary types were returned to Australia immediately upon receiving them frorn Soika. lschnocoelia chlorotica (p. 125-126); o holotype in ANIC; paratypes (1 'i', 1 o) in LACM and MCSN View publication stats (1 o). A Simple yet Effective Method for Drying Alcohol Preserved Specimens by Simon van Noort South African Museum CapeTown Following on Terri Taylor's (1993) re­ port on drying methods, a further meth­ od, utilizing acetone as the effective agent, needs to be publicized. The ace­ tone drying procedure is a simple and cost-effective method for drying weakly sclerotised or small insects preserved in alcohol in preparation for dry mount­ ing or scanning electron microscopy. The principle of the technique relies on the replacement of the alcohol contained in the specimen with highly volatile ace­ tone, which is then speed evaporated under heat, leaving the specimen in a perfectly preserved state. The technique was first described by Truman (1968) who used the method to preserve larval and adult mosqui­ toes. Walpole et a/. (1988) applied the collapse. In some taxa, particularly ich­ neumonids, the gaster (metasoma) of­ ten distends when stored in alcohol. Acetone drying preserves the disten­ tion, creating an artificial appearance to the gaster, but this does allow for clear all round observation of the tergal and sternal plates. It is, nevertheless, possi­ ble to control the final extent of disten­ tion by allowing the specimen to dry out until the gaster returns to normal, be­ fore placement in the acetone environ­ ment. The acetone environment can be created by saturating a layer of cotton wool in the bottom of an airtight glass (or acetone-proof plastic) container with acetone and placing or pinning the specimens on some sort of platform (I use a piece of SPX foam) above the cotton wool. Specimens may either be placed directly into the acetone envi­ ronment from alcohol or first mounted. For direct placement it is best to float the specimens out of the alcohol onto thin card, as it is essential to achieve