168 Z. BOUCEK 



L. histrio. I could not trace the type-material, although Dr Hedqvist told me 

 that he had seen it in the Paris museum. As it is known now to me, however, 

 that this is the only Moluccan species with yellow spots on the frons mentioned 

 in the original description, I have no doubt about the identity of L. histrio. 



L. macrodon. The type-material belonged to the museums in Hamburg and 

 Budapest (Schletterer, 1890 : 246). Professor H. Weidner of Hamburg informed 

 me that their types were destroyed during the second world war and in Budapest 

 no syntypes could be found by Professor G. Szelenyi. Nevertheless I feel sure 

 that macrodon is the same as histrio, as already presumed by Schletterer (1890 : 244), 

 who actually included the type-locality of histrio in the paragraph about the 

 distribution of his macrodon. He was reluctant to accept Maindron's names because 

 Maindron's descriptions mention only colour characters. 



L. erythrogastra. The only original specimen known is designated as lectotype. 

 It is the same as histrio, as well as the holotype of L. rufitarsis which is an unusually 

 big female. 



I have examined also the holotypes of L. ornatifrons, L. malabarensis , P. indica, 

 L. meenakshiae and L. assamensis and found them conspecific with L. histrio and 

 belonging to the same subspecies as the nominate form. 



The variation of L. histrio histrio is mentioned above. It is interesting to add 

 that the normally yellow colour of the body markings may turn red-orange, as is 

 proved by one female from Mount Apo, Mindanao. Already Schletterer (1890 : 246, 

 under macrodon) recorded such a specimen. 



Biology. Reared from Megachile sp. in West Malaysia and observed at the 

 entrance to a nest of Ctenoplectra chalybea Smith (both Hym., Apidae) in New 

 Guinea (Friese, 1909 : 208, as Leucaspis sp.; specimens examined). 



Distribution. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, S. China, Thailand, 

 Malaysia, Philippines, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Moluccas, New Guinea, New 

 Britain, Solomon Islands. 



Material examined. 



Type data given in synonymy. 



India: Ammathi, S. Coorg, 1952, 1 $ {Nathan) (Townes); Coimbatore, 1 ?, 1 $ 

 {Nathan) (ERI, Ottawa); Sikkim, 1 $ {Bingham) (MNHU, Berlin). Bangladesh: 

 Dacca, 8.vii.i945, 1 £ {D. Leston) (BMNH). Sri Lanka: no locality, 1872, 1 $ 

 {Thwaites) (UM, Oxford). Burma: Maymyo, v. 1899, 1 $ {Bingham) (BMNH). 

 China: Canton, 1 <$ {Mell) (MNHU, Berlin). Thailand: Chiangmai, Fang, 500 m, 

 iv. 1958, 1 $ {T. C. Maa) (BBM, Honolulu). West Malaysia: Island Penang, 

 Batu, from dead tree, 5.vii.i958, 1 $ {H. T. Pagden) (BMNH); Selangor, Kuala 

 Lumpur, 3 $ {Pendlebury) (BMNH); Pahang, Genting Sempah, 1947, ex Megachile 

 sp., 1 $ {H. T. Pagden) (BMNH). East Malaysia: Sarawak, Boruco, 1866, 1 $ 

 {G. Doria) (MCSN, Genoa); Mt. Matang, 1 $ {Bryant) (BMNH). Philippines: 

 Mindanao, Mt. Apo, Sibulan River, 650m, 1 $ {Clagg); Los Bafios, iv. 1923, 1 $ 

 {Bagayong) (MCZ, Cambridge). Sumatra: Pakanbaru, 1963, 1 $ {Milton) (RNH, 

 Leiden); Bengkalis Island, 1885, 1 $ {Maindron) (MNHN, Paris). Java: i $ 

 {Handschin); Djampang Mts, 1 $ {Besser) (BMNH). Kangean Island: 



