Carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee
Megachile xylocopoides
Name means: “it looks like a carpenter bee”
This bee is a leafcutter bee that looks like a big carpenter bee. That is why it is called the carpenter mimic. Leafcutter bees snip neat round pieces out of leaves to build their nests.
Lives in
Southern and eastern United States, from Texas to Pennsylvania
What does it eat?
It drinks nectar and collects pollen from flowers to feed its young.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Carpenter-mimic 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
Its scientific name xylocopoides means looking like a carpenter bee.
2
It was described by a scientist named Smith in 1853.
3
Like other leafcutter bees, it carries pollen on the hairs under its belly.
you asked
Most asked questions about Carpenter-mimic leafcutter bee
?Why is it called carpenter-mimic?
Because it looks a lot like a carpenter bee, even though it is a leafcutter bee.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Megachile xylocopoides
- Named by
- Smith, 1853
- Group
- Bees and bumblebees
- Family
- Megachilidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Megachilidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Megachile xylocopoides (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 Muniche. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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