ItEflF-CUTTER BEE. 



FEW hymenoptera of the family of bees are so little 

 known as the Megachilidae, or Leaf-cutters. They ar.e 

 stout, thick-bodied insects, with large, square heads, and 

 armed with sharp, scissors-like jaws, which admirably fit 

 them for the work they have to do in preparing materials for 

 the building of their homes. 



Our commonest species, Megachile centuncularis, is about 

 the size of the hive-bee. In gardens and nurseries where 

 shrubbery abounds, it is very prevalent, especially the female, 

 which is readily distinguished by a thick mass of stout, 

 dense hair on the under side of the tail, which serves as a 

 carrier of pollen. The honey- and bumble-bees differ mate- 

 rially from them, for they have the hind tibiae and basal 

 joints of the tarsi very much broadened for that purpose. 



Megachile is by no means a remarkable-looking insect. 

 Judging from its very humble exterior, one can hardly 

 believe it possessed of the wonderful intelligence, as shown 

 in its wise provisions for its young, which it is found to 

 display. 



Ordinarily the female, who is entrusted with the discharge 

 of this very essential business, places her nest in the solid 

 earth underneath some species of shrub. A vertical hole, 

 three inches in depth, is dug, and this is enlarged into a 

 horizontal gallery, some five or six inches in length. 



You should see the little creature in her never-tiring work 

 of preparing material for her nest. In and out among the 

 roses she goes, examining each leaf with the most critical 

 care, and only desisting from her labor when a suitable one 



