''Megachile angelarum'' 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

Megachilidae Megachilidae is a cosmopolitan family of mostly solitary bees. Both that their pollen-carrying structure (called a '' scopa'') is restricted to the ventral surface of the abdomen (rather than mostly or exclusively on the hind legs as in other ...

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 gene ...

(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 cosm ...

, 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 ''Megachile rotundata'', the alfalfa leafcutting bee, is a European bee that has been introduced to various regions around the world. As a solitary bee species, it does not build colonies or store honey, but is a very efficient pollinator of al ...

''), 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, the species was deliberately imported to assist in the pollination of food crops, but has now become

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

and widespread. Cockerell, 1902. South. Calif. Acad. Sci. Bull. 1: 70 (♀)

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 ...

within the family

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

Morphologically, they most resemble ''

Megachile campanulae ''Megachile campanulae'', known as the bellflower resin bee, is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae. Described in 1903, these solitary bees are native to eastern North America. Studies in 2013 placed them among the first insect specie ...

''.

References

External links

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2242754 angelarum Hymenoptera of North America Insects described in 1902