Megachile willughbiella
Megachile willughbiella, Willughby's leaf-cutter bee is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae.[1] It was described by the English entomologist William Kirby in 1802; he named it in honour of the ornithologist Francis Willughby.[1][2]
Megachile willughbiella | |
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Male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Megachilidae |
Genus: | Megachile |
Species: | M. willughbiella |
Binomial name | |
Megachile willughbiella (Kirby, 1802) | |
Synonyms | |
Megachile atriventris Schenk 1853 |
Description
Megachile willughbiella is a leafcutter bee found in gardens and brownfield areas especially in cities. The nest is built in soil or in wood; the cells are made of leaves. The species has kleptoparasites from the leafcutting cuckoo bee genus Coelioxys, such as C. quadridentata, C. rufescens and C. elongata. Pollen is collected from a wide variety of flowers including Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Onagraceae, with a preference for Campanulaceae (bellflowers).[3]
Distribution
The species is widely spread across western Europe between Finland, Lithuania and Spain, including Britain and Ireland. In Britain it is one of the most commonly recorded leafcutter species; it is absent from the north Midlands and from mid- and north Wales, but occurs from Cornwall all the way to Inverness, becoming scarcer with latitude.[3]
References
- "Megachile". BioLib. 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- Kirby, William (1802). Monographia apum Angliae (in Latin). Vol. 2. Ipswich, UK: J. Raw. p. 233.
- "Megachile willughbiella (Kirby,1802)". BWARS Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society. Retrieved 8 March 2019.