﻿49.— 
  AN 
  INTERESTING 
  EXAMPLE 
  OF 
  GYNANDROMORPllISM 
  

   IN 
  MEGACHILE 
  BICOLOR, 
  FB. 
  

  

  (Plate 
  LVII.) 
  

   By 
  G. 
  R. 
  DuTT, 
  B.A., 
  Personal 
  Assistant 
  to 
  the 
  Imperial 
  Ento?noIogist. 
  

  

  Megachile 
  bicolor, 
  Fb., 
  is 
  a 
  widely 
  distributed 
  species 
  tlirougliout 
  

   India. 
  In 
  tlie 
  Pusa 
  collection 
  we 
  possess 
  examples 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  from 
  

   as 
  far 
  as 
  Peshawar 
  and 
  Rawalpindi 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  West, 
  and 
  Lower 
  

   Burma 
  in 
  the 
  East, 
  from 
  Pusa 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  and 
  Trichinopoly 
  in 
  the 
  

   South. 
  Recently, 
  while 
  going 
  through 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Megachile 
  

   represented 
  in 
  our 
  collection, 
  my 
  attention 
  was 
  arrested 
  by 
  an 
  example 
  

   oi 
  Megachile 
  bicolor, 
  Fb., 
  which 
  apparently 
  looked 
  like 
  a 
  female 
  specimen, 
  

   but 
  possessed 
  long 
  lateral 
  fringes 
  of 
  shining 
  creamy-white 
  hair 
  on 
  the 
  

   posterior 
  tarsi, 
  a 
  character 
  which 
  is 
  peculiar 
  to 
  the 
  males 
  of 
  this 
  species. 
  

   (Fig. 
  1.) 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  it 
  was 
  noticed 
  that 
  the 
  last 
  tarsal 
  joint 
  of 
  

   the 
  posterior 
  pair 
  of 
  legs 
  was 
  too 
  long 
  for 
  a 
  female 
  specimen. 
  (Fig. 
  la). 
  

   All 
  the 
  male 
  examples 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  were 
  examined, 
  

   and 
  in 
  all 
  cases, 
  without 
  any 
  exception, 
  it 
  was 
  found 
  that 
  the 
  terminal 
  

   tarsal 
  joint 
  of 
  the 
  posterior 
  pair 
  of 
  legs 
  was 
  much 
  longer 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  

   of 
  the 
  females. 
  (Figs. 
  2 
  and 
  3). 
  Again, 
  all 
  the 
  males 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  

   have 
  a 
  dark 
  brown 
  spot 
  on 
  the 
  inner 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  anterior 
  tarsi 
  and 
  this 
  

   spot 
  was 
  not 
  absent 
  from 
  the 
  tarsi 
  of 
  the 
  specimen 
  under 
  reference. 
  

   (Fig. 
  4). 
  Further 
  examination 
  of 
  this 
  specimen 
  revealed 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  

   hand 
  an 
  entire 
  absence 
  of 
  the 
  pollen 
  brush 
  from 
  the 
  ventral 
  surface 
  of 
  

   the 
  abdomen 
  which 
  is 
  so 
  essential 
  a 
  character 
  for 
  a 
  female 
  (Figs. 
  5 
  and 
  

   6) 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  two 
  large 
  black 
  spines 
  on 
  the 
  

   anterior 
  coxse 
  so 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  males 
  of 
  this 
  genus. 
  (Fig. 
  76). 
  

   In 
  short, 
  it 
  presented 
  a 
  peculiar 
  blending 
  of 
  female 
  and 
  male 
  characters 
  

   in 
  one 
  specimen. 
  The 
  dorsal 
  side 
  possessed 
  all 
  the 
  promine.nt 
  characters 
  

   of 
  the 
  female 
  and 
  the 
  ventral 
  side 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  male. 
  The 
  large 
  size 
  

   and 
  the 
  elongate, 
  cordate 
  abdomen 
  without 
  a 
  notch 
  on 
  the 
  apical 
  segment, 
  

   gave 
  it 
  an 
  unmistakable 
  look 
  of 
  a 
  female. 
  (Fig. 
  1). 
  

  

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