In the Solomon Islands Heliconia solomonensis with pendent, green, inconspicuous inflorescences is pollinated by the macroglossine bat Melonycteris woodfordi. The green and white odorless flowers open in the evening and produce copious (over 200 .mu.l/night), moderately concentrated (26-27% sucrose-equivalents), sucrose-dominant (s/(g + f) = 1.150-1.567) nectar. Self-pollinations by hand reveal that H. solomonensis is probably self-incompatible. Melonycteris is a solitary forager that visits inflorescences of Heliconia in a sequential fashion. The bat lands on an inflorescence and clings with feet and wing claws to the revolute margins of the cincinnal bracts. Nectar is taken from open flowers by the bat in such a fashion that pollen is deposited on the underside of its neck and chain. This report is the first documentation of flower visitation by the genus Melonycteris, the first account of bat pollination in the Solomon Islands, and the first description of bat visitation to the flowers of Heliconia, a primarily neotropical hummingbird-pollinated genus.