Non-honey bees

Today’s cartoon was inspired by a recent paper I co-authored. Its main character is a rare Megachile species. I had a pleasure to watch females carrying leaf pieces. Most of Megachile species in my region cut circular leaf fragments and use them to line their nests (hence their common name – leafcutter bees). If you see a plant with numerous regular holes along the leaf edges, you can tell a Megachile female was there. I remember seeing a post on social media where a lady complained that the bees cut almost all leaves of her favourite rose. I know quite a few people who would happily allow the bees take all the plants from their garden. Usually, however, leafcutter bees don’t cause any obvious damage, and live in our gardens unnoticed by most.