Willughby's leaf-cutter bee Megachile willoughbiella

Features

It grows 12 to 16 mm in length. It appears from June to September.

Species	Insect
Living space	Treeline
Size	12-16 mm

Description

Her head and breasts are yellowish-brown hairy, and on the back are bands of white hairs; the female also has a fox red and a black pollen brush on the back. The male has strongly spread white and whitish hairy feet on the front legs. It appears in a variety of living environments (forest edges, gardens, gravel pits). It most often visits butterfly flowers, and also collects pollen on other plants. The nest is usually built in heavily weathered rotten wood, into which it makes trenches with its mouthpieces. When it prepares an elongated tunnel, it flies to a bush or tree (often a birch) and, with its sharp front jaws, cuts out oval and round pieces from the leaves, which it uses to line the cavities of the tunnel.