Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Atoll of Funafuti, Ellice group : its zoology, botany, ethnology and general structure based on collections made by Charles Hedley of the Australian Museum, Sydney, N.S.W.

[introduction]

Only two species of Hymenoptera were obtained—one a bee, Megachile, sp., the other being a few workers of a species of ant—Pheidole sexspinosa (Mayr). According to Mr. Woodford, "A leaf-cutting-bee of the genus Megachile was very common on all the [Gilbert] islands, making its nest under the thatch of the houses, and using portions of the leaves of Morinda citrifolia for the construction of its cells." My colleague, Mr. Hedley, informs me that Morinda citrifolia is common on the Island of Funafuti, but he did not notice that it was attacked by the leaf-cutting bees as reported by Mr. Woodford in the Gilberts. Nevertheless the leaves of Pandanus odoratissimus, a plant that is also common in the Gilberts, had the appearance of portions having been cut out of them apparently by some leaf-cutting insect.