<![CDATA[Feeling nostalgic about the Megachile bee that absolutely decimated the hollyhocks growing in front of my house last summer.]]>Feeling nostalgic about the Megachile bee that absolutely decimated the hollyhocks growing in front of my house last summer.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/0545e3b9-47b1-41a6-a0ea-d581ea2bfda4/feeling-nostalgic-about-the-megachile-bee-that-absolutely-decimated-the-hollyhocks-growing-in-front-of-my-house-last-summer.RSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 02:14:45 GMTTue, 28 Apr 2026 12:30:59 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Feeling nostalgic about the Megachile bee that absolutely decimated the hollyhocks growing in front of my house last summer. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:14:36 GMT]]>@scuttlebutt @ChristineMalec Yeah the Wikipedia article explains it but they line each cell with leaves, provision it with enough pollen/nectar to grow a larva into a full sized bee, then lay an egg at the bottom and seal it in.

Also unlike honey bees they don't have pollen baskets but collect it on their furry little butts.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/ater/statuses/116488174071789201https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/ater/statuses/116488174071789201Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:14:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Feeling nostalgic about the Megachile bee that absolutely decimated the hollyhocks growing in front of my house last summer. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 03:05:29 GMT]]>@ChristineMalec @ater Leaf cutter bees. Solitary, not honey producing. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megachile]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://farticle.cloud/notes/aln1e3y01y05vjj2https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://farticle.cloud/notes/aln1e3y01y05vjj2Wed, 29 Apr 2026 03:05:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Feeling nostalgic about the Megachile bee that absolutely decimated the hollyhocks growing in front of my house last summer. on Wed, 29 Apr 2026 02:59:12 GMT]]>@ater Puzzled head scratch, why do bees do this?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/ChristineMalec/statuses/116485754240717853https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/ChristineMalec/statuses/116485754240717853Wed, 29 Apr 2026 02:59:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Feeling nostalgic about the Megachile bee that absolutely decimated the hollyhocks growing in front of my house last summer. on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:33:52 GMT]]>@nev Megachile montivaga is (as of 1985 at least) the only known leafcutter to use flowers instead of leaves in their nests. They're native to North America.

There's also a mason bee in the middle east, Osmia avosetta, that uses flower petals in its nest!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/ater/statuses/116483059408776601https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/ater/statuses/116483059408776601Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:33:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Feeling nostalgic about the Megachile bee that absolutely decimated the hollyhocks growing in front of my house last summer. on Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:40:17 GMT]]>@ater !!! I had no idea some of these did flower petals! In my area I only see leaf cut-outs

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/nev/statuses/116482376844750502https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/nev/statuses/116482376844750502Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:40:17 GMT