IEAF-CUTTER BEE. 
EW hymenoptera of the family of bees are so little 
known as the Megachilide, or Leaf-cutters. They are 
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 tibiz 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 
