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Photo#1252170
Leafcutter bee: egg packets - Megachile perihirta

Leafcutter bee: egg packets - Megachile perihirta
Alameda County, California, USA
July 5, 2016
Size: About 1.7 cm avg. length
Last night, some creature, probably the skunk that's been digging up the yard, disturbed a recently completed leafcutter-bee nest in soil between roots of a pelargonium. The ovipositing female had used circles cut from rose leaves to form the cells. In the disturbed soil, I found three cells that looked intact and might contain viable embryos. The leaf packet at the left end of the row was empty; the object at the right end was a solid, cohesive, brown mass, not fully wrapped.

After photographing, I inserted the rightmost object into the empty packet and buried all four packets in a shallow dish of sandy soil. I moistened the surface and put the dish in an outdoor terrarium, safe from digging mammals.

Images of this individual: tag all
Leafcutter bee: egg packets - Megachile perihirta Leafcutter bee: egg packets - Megachile perihirta Leafcutter bee: adult - Megachile perihirta - male Leafcutter bee: adult - Megachile perihirta - male Leafcutter bee: adult - Megachile perihirta - male Bee No. 2 - Megachile perihirta - male Bee No. 2 - Megachile perihirta - male Bee No. 2 - Megachile perihirta - male Bee No. 2 - Megachile perihirta - male

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