''Megachile abacula'' 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 monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

in the Megachilidae family.

Leafcutter bees

Solitary bees, such as leafcutters, do not form colonies. Unlike

social insects Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping genera ...

(ants, yellow jackets, honeybees), leafcutters work alone building isolated nests. Similar to

honeybees A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmo ...

, female bees perform nearly all essential tasks of brood rearing. These native insects perform essential tasks, pollinating wild plants. The alfalfa leaf cutter bee ('' Megachile rotundata''), native to Europe, has been semi-domesticated for crop

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

. In

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, the species was deliberately imported to assist in the pollination of food crops, but has now become feral and widespread.

Taxonomy and naming

The genus ''Megachile'' is a

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

group of solitary

s, often called ''leafcutter bees''. While other

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

within the family Megachilidae may chew leaves or petals into fragments to build their nests, certain species within ''Megachile'' neatly cut pieces of leaves or petals, hence their common name. The genus ''Megachile'' is one of the largest genera of bees, with almost 1500 species.Wedmann, S., et al. (2009)
Direct and indirect fossil records of megachilid bees from the Paleogene of Central Europe (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae).
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Life cycle and behavior

Distribution and habitat

Morphology and identification

References

External links

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4490266 abacula Hymenoptera of North America Insects described in 1878