#megachile

[lavendercowboyart]

Here are a couple bees I’ve illustrated as part of a commission that I’m working on! 🙂

The green bee is a striped sweat bee of the Agapostemon genus & the black bee is a leaf cutter bee within the Megachile genus!

It’s always a treat to see our native pollinators, including bees of either of these genera, out in the world. Do you have a favorite pollinator, insect or otherwise? I plan to do some more pollinator illustrations, so let me know if there is a particular species you’d like to see!

[northerlyy]

Leafcutter Bee (Genus Megachile), taken June 29, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some species of leafcutter bee—I suspect M. mendica—visiting a bitterweed flower! Its wing was damaged, making it hard for it to fly, so I bent the flower it was on to the flower of an adjacent plant and gave it a free ride to the next stop! As the name would imply, leafcutter bees cut pieces off of leaves to line and seal their nest chambers. They're solitary, so each bee makes multiple of its own chambers in holes or cracks, fills them with preserves and an egg, then seals them shut so the larva can grow safely and emerge when it becomes and adult the next year. This is usually how solitary bees do, but using leaves to create a chamber is new and interesting compared to sand, mud, or digging!

[lethargicmoth]

Megachile leachella or silvery leafcutter bee is a solitary bee of the genus Megachile, this genus possesses their pollen collection hairs (scopa) on their abdomens, unlike most bees that have them in their feet. So you can see them carrying the pollen in their bellies.

Solitary bees that are very important to the ecosystems (more than honeybees). Remember to protect the native bees in your area by planting native flowering plants.

[herpsandbirds]

hihi!! i saved this goofball from a pool, it was very bitey, biting the skin between my thumb and index

i think its some sort of wasp or bee, whatever they are they are so stinkin cute despite the nibbles

Manitoba Canada

Bee ID - MAN, CAN:

Well, this is definitely a leaf-cutter bee (Megachile sp.). I cannot confidently identify to species using a photo. A couple of species in Manitoba are the introduced Alfafa Bee (from Europe) and the Flat-tailed Leafcutter (in far southern Man.).

Those mandibles are strong!!!

Genus Megachile - Leafcutter and Resin Bees - BugGuide.Net

Megachile - Wikipedia

[photoblogdujour]

Bee is a bit tough on the old Sunflower, cutting her up, slicing pieces from leaves, delicately chomping on body parts. Sunflower reported her to the police, but they declined to do anything, mentioning something about nature tooth and claw, nails and hair.

[bowelfly]

assorted MSPaint bug doodle commissions for @leafkidsblog @petedavidsonscock and @solidagold

[cnestus]

here's a couple month's worth of missed MEGACHILE MONDAYS

it's impossible for me to choose a favorite bee genus but if i absolutely had to i think Megachile would be a top contender. they're just so charming i love their stupid fuzzy asses.

i do feel self-conscious about mostly posting dead pinned insects but i don't get to go out to the field that often anymore and fwiw all of my specimens were either found dead or collected for actual scientific research.

[b0iled3gg]

6. Pierce

I wonder how this lil' guy tastes like.. Fries mb?🤷‍♂️

Idk, looks crunchy🦷🍟