#megachile

It’s always a treat to see our native pollinators, including bees of either of these genera, out in the world. Do you have a favorite pollinator, insect or otherwise? I plan to do some more pollinator illustrations, so let me know if there is a particular species you’d like to see!

Some species of leafcutter bee—I suspect M. mendica—visiting a bitterweed flower! Its wing was damaged, making it hard for it to fly, so I bent the flower it was on to the flower of an adjacent plant and gave it a free ride to the next stop! As the name would imply, leafcutter bees cut pieces off of leaves to line and seal their nest chambers. They're solitary, so each bee makes multiple of its own chambers in holes or cracks, fills them with preserves and an egg, then seals them shut so the larva can grow safely and emerge when it becomes and adult the next year. This is usually how solitary bees do, but using leaves to create a chamber is new and interesting compared to sand, mud, or digging!

Solitary bees that are very important to the ecosystems (more than honeybees). Remember to protect the native bees in your area by planting native flowering plants.

Megachile - Wikipedia

Bee is a bit tough on the old Sunflower, cutting her up, slicing pieces from leaves, delicately chomping on body parts. Sunflower reported her to the police, but they declined to do anything, mentioning something about nature tooth and claw, nails and hair.

assorted MSPaint bug doodle commissions for @leafkidsblog @petedavidsonscock and @solidagold

i do feel self-conscious about mostly posting dead pinned insects but i don't get to go out to the field that often anymore and fwiw all of my specimens were either found dead or collected for actual scientific research.

Idk, looks crunchy🦷🍟