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LinkedInPosts Tagged: leafcutter bee
Hello There, Little Leafcutter Bee
Hello there, little leafcutter bee! Yes, you, foraging on the sky-blue Chinese Forget-Me-Nots! You're just in time for National Pollinator Week! Leafcutter bees, family Megachilidae, are so named because the females cut leaves and petals (perfectly round holes!) to line their nests....
A leafcutter bee, family Megachilidae, peers at the photographer. "Here I am! It's National Pollinator Week." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The leafcutter bee continues foraging on the Chinese-Forget-Me-Nots. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The leafcutter bee ignores the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, I'm leaving now for another blossom." The leafcutter bee is about to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ever See a Leafcutter Bee Sunning Itself on a Milkweed Leaf?
Well, that's something you don't see every day: a leafcutter bee sunning itself on a milkweed leaf. The narrowleafed milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, beckons monarch butterflies (the host plant), aphids, praying mantids and assorted other insects, but once in a while, you'll...
A leafcutter bee, Megachile spp., rests on a leaf of milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, in a Vacaville, Calif. garden. Both are natives. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The leaf is long and the leafcutter bee is short. Leafcutter bees are smaller than honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of the male leafcutter bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Where's Walda?
You've probably read the children's book, "Where's Waldo?" Waldo wanders around the world, gets lost in the crowd or scenery, and it's your job to find him. Where'd he go? If you have a praying mantis in your yard, you probably play "Where's Waldo?" a lot. In our yard, it's "Walda." She's a...
"Walda" snares a bee, probably a leafcutter bee, in a patch of milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bad day for a bee, good day for a hungry praying mantis named Walda. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Walda, the praying mantis, finishes her meal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The meal is over for Walda, the praying mantis, and it's time to groom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Day 5 of National Pollinator Week: The Leafcutter Bee
Day 5 of National Pollinator Week: Meet the leafcutter bee, family Megachilidae. It's a native pollinator, a solitary bee, and about the size of a honey bee. Its coloration--the black-and-white banded abdomen--makes it easily recognizable. As the name suggestions, they...
A leafcutter bee (family Megachilidae) foraging on Verbena in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Most Incredible Image of a Leafcutter Bee
It's one of the most beautiful, incredible images of a leafcutter bee we've ever seen. Talented macro insect photographer Donna Sanders of Emerald, Queensland, Australia, captured this spectacular photo (below) of a female leafcutter bee carrying a leaf segment back to her nest, a cavity in a tree...
An amazing image of a leafcutter bee carrying a leaf segment back to her nest. This image, used with permission, is by Donna Sanders of Emerald, Queensland, Australia.
A male leafcutter bee, Megachile spp., on rock purslane, Calandrinia grandiflora, in Vacaville, Calif. The seventh annual International Pollinator Conference is set Wednesday, July 17 through Saturday, July 20 in the UC Davis Conference Center. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male leafcutter bee, Megachile spp., peers over a rock purslane petal. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
