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Megachile spp.
Plate — illustration to come
BeeNative · New Jersey

Leafcutter Bees

Megachile spp.

Megachilidae

The bee behind the perfect circles cut out of your rose leaves. Leafcutters snip neat oval pieces from soft leaves and use them to construct cigar-shaped brood cells inside hollow stems or wood cavities. They carry pollen on the underside of their abdomens — not in leg baskets — which makes them highly efficient pollinators.

Identify by

How to spot one.

  • Small to medium (0.3–0.6 inch)

  • Dark body with pale hair bands on abdomen

  • Bright yellow-orange pollen brush under the abdomen (females)

  • Perfectly round or oval cutouts on leaves are their signature

Life & behavior

How it lives.

Solitary cavity-nester. Female cuts oval leaf pieces (usually from roses, lilacs, or redbuds), rolls them into a cigar-shaped tube inside a hollow stem or hole, provisions it with pollen and one egg, seals the end with a leaf disc, and moves on. She may build 30-40 such cells in her lifetime.

At a glance

The spec sheet.

Type
Bee
Active
May – September
Native to NJ
Yes
Conservation status
stable
Family
Megachilidae
In the group

Notable species.

Species you’re most likely to see, plus any of conservation concern.

  • Eastern Leafcutter Bee

    Megachile brevis

    Common in NJ; cavity nester

  • Pugnacious Leafcutter Bee

    Megachile pugnata

    Sunflower specialist

Plants it uses

What it needs.

Plants this species visits, feeds on, or depends on. Names in hydrangea link to the plant’s Field Guide entry.

  • Sunflowers, coneflowers, asters, composites

    Nectar source

  • Purple Coneflower

    Nectar source

  • Mountain Mint

    Nectar source

  • Roses, lilacs, redbud (leaves for nesting material)

    Cover / habitat

Sources

Xerces Society · Rutgers NJAES

More bees

Others in this group.