#leafcutting

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Oblong Woolcarder Bee - Anthidium oblongatum

Now this was most expected! Previously when I found this specie of Bee, or others that appear similar to it, they were hovering around some flowers in attempt to drive away other pollinations from their "territory" through merciless charging. Alternatively, one might guess that this specie would find some suitable leaves for their nest (within a wooden cavity) among the plants that they missing and cut pieces out of them and turn them into nest furnishing. After all, this is a Leafcutting Bee! However, for this specie, today we get to observe the reality of the situation; members of the Anthidium genus don’t cut leaves to use as nesting materials. Instead, they collect something far more important and labor intensive. Look closely at the underside of this Bee and you'll notice that she's carrying something large beneath her. The object isn't an egg sac, and while that's not a behavior typically associated with Bees, that would be amazing to see in the wilderness. The mass carried beneath this Bee's underside is in fact, a collection of fibers and hairs that she has gathered from plants and rolled into a ball.

When the hardworking Bee has enough material gathered and rolled up, the ball will be brought back to the nest so that it can be made into lining for the nest and individual cells! The accepted term for the massed plant material is "vegetable wool", which is obtained from the Bee scraping it off of a plant's leaves or form using her mandibles. After it is detached, the fibers are collected and rolled into a ball; the process is known as "carding", hence the name, "Woolcarder Bee." This individual has amassed a large ball, and while large it can be easily held and transported thanks to the Bee's strong mandibles and legs. While it may not be apparent at first glance due to the size of the individual fibers, but they were indeed collected from the underside of the plant that this Bee was buzzing around. Looking at pictures 2, 4 and 5, the scraping and folding of fibers can be seen with a simple zoom in. Moreover, in Picture 1 it can be seen exactly where she shaved away the plant's fibers! What an industrious animal. Had I noticed the fluff ball being made while taking these pictures, I would've followed the Bee to her nest to see her construction process. That's a lesson for future opportunities I suppose: pay attention to the insects you find and what they're doing today.

Pictures were taken on July 1, 2024 with a Google Pixel 4.

[freakyll]

Just a tiny bee snacking on a flower.

But what's this?

Strike from above!

Such a dramatic pose. Poor thing didn't know what hit her.

They seem to be alfalfa leafcutting bees or Megachile rotundata. Or some other leafcutter bee, at the very least I feel confident that it's one of them.

While looking up this bee I stumbled on mention of them having three "simple eyes" between their faceted eyes. Turns out they are called ocelli and that's actually normal equipment for bees and wasps.

Fascinating. All my life I thought spiders were very special with their eight eyes and now I suddenly find out that bees have five instead of two.

Lviv 2024-06-16

📷Samnusg Galaxy M21

[bowelflies]

Hoplitis papaveris (Megachilidae) is a leafcutting bee that lines its nest with poppy petals

photos source

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Leafcutter Bees: these bees collect flower petals or bits of foliage and then weave the pieces together to build their nests

Above: a silver-tailed petalcutter bee (Megachile montivago) collecting flower petals

Unlike honey bees, leafcutters do not form colonies or live together in hives, meaning that each nest belongs to a single, solitary bee. The nests are built and used only by female leafcutter bees (family Megachilidae).

Above: leafcutter bees snipping off bits of foliage that can be used to line their nests

The females use their mandibles to cut out pieces of foliage, carefully snipping off rounded segments and then carrying them back to an existing cavity or burrow (which may be located in a plant stem, a piece of wood, the side of a tree, etc.), where the pieces are used to construct a series of brood cells along the inner walls of the cavity.

Most leafcutter bees build their nests out of leaves, but there are some species that are more accurately described as "petalcutters," because they use flower petals instead.

Above: the silver-tailed petalcutter bee is one of the few Megachilid bees that uses flower petals to line its nest

The leaves or flower petals are then folded together along the inner walls of the chamber, forming a long, cigar-shaped nest that contains multiple brood cells.

Above: leafcutter nests

As this article explains:

Leafcutter bees may nest in many different spaces, such as existing holes in timber or masonry, hollow stems, gaps in door/window frames, old folded towels left outside, rock walls and outdoor furniture.

Each female builds her own nest. The cut leaves are used to make a tube as a nest for the eggs or to line an existing hole with it. The leaves are cut in various shapes, round and elongated, to suit the construction of the cell for the eggs. The cell is then stocked with a mixture of nectar and pollen in which the leafcutter bee lays her eggs.

There are multiple brood cells built into the internal structure of the nest, but they are all separate from one another. Each cell contains a single egg, along with just enough pollen and nectar to sustain the larva until it reaches maturity.

When the eggs hatch, tiny larvae eat the provisions and, when fully grown, they spin silky cocoons and then develop into pupae, finally emerging as adult bees. 

Leafcutter bees come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. These are just a few other examples:

Above: the photos in the top row depict Megachile latimanus and Megachile octosignata, while the photos on the bottom depict Megachiloides sp. and Megachile poeyi

Sources & More Info:

University of Colorado's Museum of Natural History: Leafcutting Bee

Florida Wildflower Foundation: Getting to Know your Native Pollinators - Leafcutter Bees

University of Nebraska: Facts about the Leafcutter Bee

Land for Wildlife (Southeast Queensland): Leafcutter Bees

What's that Bug?: Leafcutter Bee Life Cycle - a Fascinating Journey Revealed

Entomology Today: Beyond the Honey Bee - How Pesticides Affect Solitary, Cavity-Nesting Bees

[timsinfieldart]

Some Silent Hill inspired cover art I made back in 2020, for Lo-Fi artist - Leafcuts.

[asksuperlightextras]

What’s your favorite ant, personally I like Texas leafcutting ants, elongated twig ants or red imported fire ants ❤️

”there are types of ant? OH RIGHT THERE IS!!! I prefer the Titanomyrma,!”

-Kinger

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

✉️🖍🛰 for gender ask meme!

yippie thank you for the ask!!! :D

✉️ - if your gender was a person, what would their personality be like?

some sort of creature of a being that communicates solely through staring at you and hoping you get what it's trying to convey. you don't really know what it wants, or if it even is a person. it doesn't seem to know what it wants either. maybe it isn't even real, and maybe nonreality is what it is. maybe it's the everflowing nothingness of fading stars and thus is quiet and unknowable and nothing and too much all at once. a real paradox of a thing. inconsistent

🖍 - if your gender was a song, what would it be?

the theme for burd by leafcuts!

🛰 - (for system) Does everyone in your system share a gender?

mmmmm we don't consider ourselves a system! but since there's two of us, we'll answer this one anyway ^^ generally, yes? like we're both agender. but the styles of genderlessness are different, y'know? blue is softer and comes in cool tones and bubbles of ocean, red has sharp edges and sharper eyes and burns scarlet and is deeply entrenched in space

the poetry part of our brain kicked in again, whoopsie! we really like metaphors heheh ''^^

[25centsoda]

Leaftcutter bees!

To go with leafcutter ants!

Leafcutter creatures enjoying my leafcutting plants!

leafcutter bee song (unintentional)

see the video on tiktok here

[yoplantmama]

My girl is growing pods!!! This is the most prominent one, but there are a couple more on the other side, I can't wait for them to mature so I can get my hands on the seeds! I admit I almost forgot about this poor cactus until I realized I could place it on my balcony. Now look at her!!!

This Mammillaria needs a repot but I noticed a cute leafcutting bee decided to make it her new home so...I guess I'll wait.

[scottiestoybox]

These Bees Hustle to Put Food on the Table | Deep Look

You know honeybees make honey, but did you know they make bread too? And four other types of bees are also dedicated chefs! Alfalfa leafcutting bees take a punch from a flower for your ice cream. Blue orchard bees bring you almonds and sweet cherries. Plus, stingless bees protect their tasty honey in creative ways. And bindweed bees’ way of gathering pollen deserves a fashion award. These videos…

[becoming-not-became]

Moving

Another forkcrossroad dividing an intersection this wayor thatmaybe forward maybe backalways moving right alonga tumbleweed some dust a leafcut corners across fields rolling wherealmost there

[vatio-nuked]

Gilbert et al. (2025)

[pogomcl]

Megachile, Anthidium punctatum Canon 7D EFS 60 2.8 f/7.1 1/320 iso: 160 Prague, Czech Republic July 18, 2020

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

icarus by instupendo and burd by leafcuts are ford songs

[revretch]

OP is alfalfa, seconds before evolving the ability to smash pollen into a pollinator's head

Dude get your gay ass proboscis out of me

[plantaholicthings-blog]

After a month, the leaf cuttings has a lot of roots🤗 #begonia #begoniabowerei #leafrooting #begoniatigerpaws #leafcutting #pachira #pachiraaquatica #flower #plantporn #garden #gardener