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Megachilidae (Leaf cutter, mason, and resin bees)

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Taxonomy

Bees in the family Megachilidae are commonly known as leaf cutter, mason, or resin bees because many of the species in the family use leaf, soil, and/or resin materials to construct their nests. If you see Megachilidae sp. on the list of bees found in your block, it means we were not able to identify the specimen to the genus or species level. This is usually because we were only able to recover part of the bee.

Description

Female bees in the Megachilidae family (except for parasitic members of the family) carry pollen in a scopa (long, pollen collecting hairs) underneath their abdomens.

Nest Structure

The Megachilidae family includes a wide range of nesting behavior. Some species nest above ground in plant stems, or tunnels in wood or stone, and others nest below ground. Many species use some kind of building material that they collect, such as mud, pebbles, leaf pieces, or plant resins to line the inside of their nest and cap tunnel ends.

Hole Sizes

No information at this time.

Voltinism

No information at this time.

Activity Period

No information at this time.

References

No information at this time.

Minnesota Record Map

These data are from the Minnesota Bee Atlas project.

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