Foto: Vista frontal do macho de Megachile sp. Autoria da foto: Sylvia Maria Matsuda

ABSTRACT

Megachile is treated here as a single genus combining Megachile with Chalicodoma. In the Americas the genus occurs from Alaska and the mid latitudes of Canada to southern Chile and Argentina, but most species are tropical. They are important pollinators of many crops and other useful plants. Despite their economic and ecological importance, the biology of few species has been studied in detail because they are difficult to identify. The 395 species in the catalogue are allocated to 26 subgenera (including 9 Old World species introduced to the region during historical times). Summaries of information on each species’ classification, biology and geographical distributions are given.

Preface
Introduction
Taxonomic review
Geographical distribution
Biology
Flower relationships
Identification
Presentation of data
Genus Megachile Latreille
Subgenus
Fossil species
New World bees placed erroneously in Megachile
Nomina nuda
Appendix: Collection abbreviations
References

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