Flat-tailed leafcutter bee
Megachile mendica
The flat-tailed leafcutter bee is a bee that lives on its own, without a big hive. It builds its nest with little pieces of leaves. It is happy to move into a bee hotel if the holes are just the right size.
Lives in
North America, in gardens and meadows
What does it eat?
Like other bees, it visits flowers for nectar and pollen.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Flat-tailed leafcutter bee about 22 km/h (14 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It is a solitary bee. Each female makes her own nest instead of living with a big family.
2
It lines its nest with pieces of leaves, which is how leafcutter bees got their name.
3
It will nest in bee blocks, wooden blocks with holes about 8 to 11 millimetres wide.
you asked
Most asked questions about Flat-tailed leafcutter bee
?How can I get leafcutter bees in my garden?
This bee likes bee blocks with holes about 8 to 11 millimetres wide, where it can build its nest.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Megachile mendica
- Named by
- Cresson, 1878
- Group
- Bees and bumblebees
- Family
- Megachilidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Megachilidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Megachile mendica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Laboratory. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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