Insects · Hymenoptera · Megachilidae

Alfalfa Leafcutter

Megachile rotundata

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

Megachile rotundata, or the alfalfa leafcutter bee, is a European species that has been introduced into other regions of the world. It is a solitary species, that is, it does not build colonies; instead each bee builds its own nest and cares for its own young independently. The nests can be found in old trees or logs. The insides of the nests are lined with pieces of leaf.

Lifespan

1 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

GrasslandHerbivore Diurnal Solitary Insect Grassland

53countries1same family

Fun facts

It is the most intensively managed solitary bee in the world: it transformed the lucerne seed industry in North America, tripling production.
It cuts circular discs of leaf with its mandibles and lines each cell with them, hence the name leafcutter.
It is solitary but gregarious: there is no queen and no division of labour, each female builds and provisions her own nest, but she prefers to do so alongside others. That is precisely what makes mass rearing possible, in straws or drilled wooden blocks.
It arrived accidentally in the United States from Eurasia in the 1940s, and today it is on every continent except Antarctica.
It only works on warm, sunny days, above 20 °C.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)
Habitat & environment: Grassland and lucerne crops; the female digs out or makes use of cavities — rotten wood, hollow stems, cracks — and lines them with cut discs of leaf
Litter / clutch size: Between 30 and 40 eggs per female, one per cell

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megachile_rotundata