1907. Kiodotus sp., Miller, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 57:70, June 29.
1936. Odontonycteris lagochilus microtus, Troughton, Rec. Australian Mus., 14:350, April 7, from Bougainville.
Specimens examined (14 males and 16 females; in alcohol).—Choiseul in March, 23654-57, 23614, 23629, 23643, 23645, 23647, 23677-79, 23684; Vella Lavella in December, 23277-79, 23283-84; Fauro in April, 23765; Guadalcanal in May and June, 23830, 23864, 23935; Kolombangara in January, 23385, 23399, 23397, 23407, 23420-21; Santa Ysabel in June, 24067; Malaita in June, 24067.
Measurements.—Average and extreme external measurements of 14 males and 15 females are as follows: Length of head and body, 68.3 (63-72); tail vertebrae present but scarcely perceptible and therefore not measured; hind foot, 11.4 (9.0-12.9); ear, 12.0 (10.0-12.9); length of forearm, 37.6 (36.2-39.9).
Remarks.—The distribution of Macroglossus lagochilus microtus has not been well known. Specimens herein reported from Choiseul, Fauro, and Vella Lavella provide new records of distribution. As shown on Figure 10, the subspecies occurs throughout the Solomon Islands.
Macroglossus lagochilus microtus differs slightly from M. l. nanus Matschie, the subspecies of the Bismarck Archipelago and Admiralty Islands to the north of the Solomons. M. l. nanus averages slightly larger than microtus (see Andersen, 1912:768-769, for comparative measurements) but otherwise closely resembles it.
Individual variation is evident in several measurements of the specimens at hand (in length of forearm, for example) but no clines are apparent. Four females obtained in March were lactating, as was one taken in December and one taken in January.
Melonycteris Dobson
1877. Melonycteris Dobson, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 119, June 1.
1877. Cheiropteruges Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 2:19, July.