FIGURE 4. Taxonomic and temporal patterns of Megachilidae specimen records in the RMCA collection (Tervuren, Belgium). A. Rank abundance plot and associated data for the 10 most frequently collected species showing that the top 8 species make up to 50% of the dataset. The distribution of species along the curve shows a very long "tail", implying that many of the species curated are only represented by a low or a very low number of species. At the extreme, 26 species of Megachilidae were represented in the RMCA collections only as type specimens (holotype and paratype); B. Specimen accumulation curve through time (1905-1978) for the seven groups of species in the family Megachilidae showing that the best represented groups are Megachile sensu lato, Gronoceras, Lithurgini and Anthidiini (by decreasing order of magnitude). It is noteworthy that Megachile sensu lato has been regularly collected and in higher numbers during the period 1905-1920, and that all the above groups were collected in larger numbers during the decade 1930-40 compared to other groups of Megachilidae. ; Published as part of Nkulu, Alain Tshibungu, Pauly, Alain, Dorchin, Achik & Vereecken, Nicolas J., 2023, The Megachilidae (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Apiformes) of the Democratic Republic of Congo curated at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA, Belgium), pp. 1-103 in Zootaxa 5392 (1) on page 86, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5392.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10435063