''Megachile centuncularis'', commonly known as the patchwork leafcutter bee, is a species of

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

in the family

Megachilidae Megachilidae is a cosmopolitan family of mostly solitary bees. Characteristic traits of this family are the restriction of their pollen-carrying structure (called a '' scopa'') to the ventral surface of the abdomen (rather than mostly or exclu ...

. It was first described by the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1758.

Description

The Megachilidae are long-tongued, solitary bees, characterized by a rectangular labrum, the flap-like structure at the front of the mouth. They carry pollen on hairs on the underside of the abdomen. This species is about long and is largely black, the abdominal segments being fringed with golden hairs and the underside of the abdomen being clad with orange hairs.

Distribution

''Megachile centuncularis'' is native to the northern hemisphere, being present in both North America and Eurasia. In western Europe, its range extends from Norway, Sweden and Finland southward to Spain and Italy. It occurs in eastern Ireland, and in Britain, especially in the southern part of the country. It is generally a common species and visits gardens in both rural and urban areas.

Ecology

The adult bee feeds on

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

obtained from various flowers, particularly

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...

s and

bramble ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. I ...

s. It collects

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

to provision the nest from a wide range of flowers, including those of the families

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

and

Hypericaceae Hypericaceae is a plant family in the order Malpighiales, comprising six to nine genera and up to 700 species, and commonly known as the St. John's wort family. Members are found throughout the world apart from extremely cold or dry habitats. ...

. This bee makes its nest in a variety of locations; in wood, in hollow stems, in wall cavities or crevices, or even soil, and has been known to use an upturned flowerpot. The bee uses its jaws like scissors to cut pieces of leaf to place in the nest; often rose leaves are used, or

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...

horse chestnut The genus ''Aesculus'' ( or ), with notable species including buckeye and horse chestnut, comprises 13–19 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae. They are trees and shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with ...

, ash,

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly ...

. At the nest site, pieces of leaf are rolled up, provisioned with pollen, and one egg is laid in each package. Finally the nest entrance is sealed with about six discs of leaf. Like other bees in temperate regions, ''M. centuncularis'' overwinters before emerging from the nest, either as a pupa, or as a fully developed larva.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q725259 bees described in 1758 Hymenoptera of Asia Hymenoptera of Europe Hymenoptera of North America Centuncularis taxa named by Carl Linnaeus