Female. Male. 



LEAF-CUTTING BEE (MAGNIFIED). 



THE LEAF-CUTTING BEE 



By HAROLD BASTIN 



With Photographs by the Author 



THE genus Megachile (Leaf-cutting 

 Bees) comprises seven British 

 species. AU of them are specially 

 interesting in their habits. One or 

 two of the species are quite common, 

 and the reader should have no cHfficulty 

 in verifying the statements which I 

 am about to make. The particular Leaf- 

 cutting Bee shown in the accompanying 

 photograph is caUed Megachile willngh- 

 hiella. It often frequents gardens, both 

 in the country as well as in London 

 suburbs. In appearance it bears a distinct 

 likeness to the Honey Bee, but is stouter 

 and more thick-set. The male has its 

 anterior foot-joints, or tarsi (excepting 

 the terminal one), beset with a dense 

 fringe of hairs — for what reason I have 

 never been able to discover. But, as is 

 the case with many other insects, the 

 male Bee is a lazy fellow, whose habits 

 caU for no special remark. 



Let us turn then to the female. She 

 is larger, and considerably more robust 

 than her partner ; and this is as it shoukl 

 be, for her hfe is ])assed in a round of 

 arduous labour. Sh<nild you wish to 

 discover whether the Leaf-cutting Bee is 

 at work in your garden, you need only 



examine the leaves of the rose bushes. 

 If any of these have cuts in them — some 

 oblong, others almost circular — you may 

 be sure that the insect is not far off, for 

 the cuts in the leaves are her doing. She 

 has been gathering material for cell- 

 making. Come again to the rose bush 

 (hiring the morning hours, when the hot 

 sun shines upon it, and you are almost 

 certain to find the Bee busily engaged. 

 Suddenly she alights upon a leaf, grasping 

 with her legs the piece which she desires 

 to cut awa3^ Then, with her jaws she 

 rapidly cuts the leaf-tissue ; and just as 

 one imagines that she has bitten away the 

 last shred of her support and will fall to 

 the ground, she puts her shining wings in 

 motion and darts off, carrying the severed 

 piece of leaf safely gripped beneath her 

 body. And whither does she go ? So 

 rapid is her flight that it is difficult to 

 follow its course with the eye. But by 

 the exercise of a little patience, her 

 destination may be discovered. This, 

 when found, will prove to be a small 

 tunnel leading to the interior of some 

 decayed woodwork, such as a gatepost, 

 or a beam in an outhouse or shed. For 

 the reader must know that the Bee's 



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