Animal profile

Leafcutter Bee

Megachile rotundata

InsectaOpen sunny habitats with legume forage and pre-existing cavities such as hollow stems and beetle borings

Field profile

The alfalfa leafcutting bee is a small solitary bee that lines its nest cells with cut discs of leaf. Each female works alone, provisioning a row of cells in a narrow tunnel. It is one of the very few solitary bees managed at industrial scale.

Published field notes

2025-12-07

Leafcutter Bee

Leafcutter bees carry pollen on the belly

Honey bees pack pollen into baskets on the hind legs. Megachile bees carry it dry on a brush of hairs under the abdomen, which is why a foraging leafcutter looks dusted gold underneath.

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