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Topic Categories: Image of the Day • Insects
Posted on: August 2, 2007 2:59 PM, by "GrrlScientist"
tags: leafcutter bee, Megachile wheeleri, Gaillardia pulchra, Image of the Day
Leafcutter Bee, Megachile wheeleri, pollinating Gaillardia pulchra, White Oak Bayou along E. T.C. Jester Blvd.
Contrast the leafcutter bee that visits the wild sunflowers. Native bees are specialists, while European honeybees will whore for any flower that offers a reward.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
Comments
Its a little hard to say what your bee is, but it certainly is not Megachile wheeleri, or any other megachilid. The presence of a pygidial plate and a scopa on the hind legs are disqualifiers for Megachile. An aside: many native bees are generalists. None as hyper-polylectic as honey bees but many certainly with broad diets.
Posted by: Jack Neff | January 13, 2010 7:36 PM