A Leaf Cutter Bee on flowers in the morning sun, photos of the bee foraging and collecting pollen on hairy lower abdomen.
A Leaf Cutter Bee on flowers.
Description and duties.
This leaf cutter bee is an amazing and pollinates the flowers well. It is nearly the size of a honey bee.
Note the face and the large eyes at the side of the head, for 360 deg. sight.
They collect pollen on the lower abdomen of their bodies with hairs, they use this pollen to make new nests for the egg laying,
A close up of the pollen on the bees lower abdomen hairs. Very busy bee.
Some pollen on its face as well. The female leaf cutter bee lives for 5 to 8 weeks.
A side view of this pretty bee, searching all the time for food.
The bee had company on the petals of the cosmos flowers, an insect. Some predators of bees hide on the petals of the flowers as well.
A good photo of the leaf cutter bee and its legs and face, thorax hairs and abdomen colors.
Strong wings and feelers on the face in front of the eyes that are on the side of the head.
The bee is not social like the honey bee, and does not sting unless its handled or squashed.
Even then the sting is very mild.
Breeding of the leaf cutter bee.
Pollen is used to feed the larvae once the queen lays the eggs in a leaf like roll that is made to breed in.
Off it flies to the nest, to fill up with pollen. Once they hatch they start the process of rolling leaves and the queen bee lays eggs again.
Species
Some species, like the Silvery leaf–cutter bee (Megachile leachella) and the Coast leaf–cutter bee (Megachile maritima) can be found nesting in groups called aggregations, although each female tends to their own nest cells.
However, most species choose to nest in existing cavities on their own
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