Category: Megachile
-
Carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee (Megachile xylocopoides)
Megachilidae > Megachile > Megachile xylocopoides Carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee (Megachile xylocopoides) is a large, glossy black megachilid. It can be found throughout the summer on asters like coreopsis, sunflowers, and goldenrods in gardens and backyards. M. xylocopoides is a straightforward field identification: it hardly resembles another megachilid in the northeast. Rather, its model is the…
-
Sculptured resin bee (Megachile sculpturalis)
Megachilidae > Megachile > Megachile sculpturalis Even to the novice observer, sculptured resin bee (Megachile sculpturalis) is hard to miss. These large, loud, exotic megachilids hardly are closer in size to a small dragonfly than to most other bees in the region. It has been highly successful in human-disturbed landscapes, where it’s drawn to numerous…
-
Pugnacious leafcutter bee (Megachile pugnata)
Megachilidae > Megachile > Megachile pugnata Pugnacious leafcutter bee (Megachile pugnata) is a sunflower bee through and through. This distinctive, large megachilid is common in summer on composite asters in gardens, backyards, and agricultural fields. It has a particularly large head, including a genal tooth (like Halictus ligatus/poeyi), which sets it apart from close relatives…
-
Megachile
Megachile is a widespread and highly diverse genera of bees. They range in size from 0.25x to 1.5x the size of a honey bee. Megachile females transport pollen beneath their abdomens (often holding up their abdomens while foraging). They are united by their varied nesting strategies. Females build linear nests that they line with natural…