Preface

This inventory is a labour of Sisyphus; it has no end. I have been compiling it for years. With 307 references and thousands of citations in the text it is a formidable task. Additional references are continually coming to light. Despite the unfinished state of the work, I have been persuaded that people will find it useful in its present state. In making it available I ask the reader to inform me of errors and omissions, which I shall be happy to include in the inevitable revisions.

A major part of this investigation was made possible with an award from the Royal Society of London, which allowed me to spend a sabbatical at the University of Oxford. Visits to the British Museum (Natural History) were made possible with grants from the British Council and the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas [CNPq [Brazilian National Research Council]. CNPq also my financed visits to the Universidade Federal do Paraná in Curitiba, and the Museu Nacional and Instituto Osvaldo Cruz, both in Rio de Janeiro. The Smithsonian Institution provided a research grant to visit the National Collection in Washington and also the collections in the American Museum of Natural History, New York and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. I am sincerely grateful to these Institutions for their support.

I have received on loan more than 4,000 specimens of neotropical Megachile. The following entomologists have provided me with specimens which have been invaluable for this work. I thank Mr. M. C. Day and Mr. G. R. Else, British Museum (Natural History), London; Mr. C. O'Toole, University Museum, Oxford, England; Dr. R. M. McGinley, Smithsonian Institution; Dr. J. R. Rozen of the American Museum of Natural History, New York; Dr. R. B. Roberts, Rutgers University; Dr. C. D. Michener, University of Kansas; Dr. G. E. Bohart and Dr. Terry L. Griswold, Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory, U.S.D.A., Logan, Utah, U.S.A.; the late Dr. G. C. Eickwort, University of Cornell; Dr. W. E. LaBerge, Illinois Natural History Survey; Dr. G. Alayon García, Cuba; Dr. D. Roubik, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá; Dr. Edgar Ormachea Acurio, Universidade Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Peru; F. Fernández, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá; Sr. J.A. Rafael, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus and Dr. W. L. Overal, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém and Padre Jesus Santiago Moure of the Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba. Dr. Claire Villemont of the Musée National de Histoire Naturelle, Paris kindly delivered by hand many of the types of Vachal. Mr. Christopher O'Toole of the Oxford University Museum and Dr. V. O. Becker of Brasilia have been of great assistance during this study.

Since the catalogue has been made accessible on the www various colleagues have provided additional information. I thank Dr. Julio Gerano of Cuba and Dr. Steven Buchmann of TheBeeWorks, Arizona for their comments. Mr. Claus Rasmussen, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois has provided important information on Peruvian localities.