Megachile sp.

[mickmassie]

Is there enough to go on to get this to species level ?





Any help much appreciated.
Mick.

[crazylilthing]

Originally Posted by mickmassie

Is there enough to go on to get this to species level ?





Any help much appreciated.
Mick.

What diameter are the nest holes?

Forum member Eucera very helpfully suggested
M. willughbiella or M. ligniseca if the holes are 12 mm diameter or so:

see post no. 10 here:

How do solitary bees spot/ test nest sites?

[mickmassie]

8x12mm (Not round). Where does that leave me ?
I had assumed that M willughbiella was the statistical favourite, but they are mainly plant pot soil nesters. My bee is in bamboo.
M ligniseca may be worth a try. Twardhe description I have say 'pale golden hairs on abdomen, with black on last two segments' so that is about right.
Ever onward, and thanks. Mick.

[Africa]

I can't help with ID (I am pulling my hairs also with my Leaf-cutters) but what great shot the one of the bee entering the nest! Did you have to wait long to get it?

[mickmassie]

Thanks, I was very pleased with this (in my garden). Not really hard to photograph: I saw the nest site, set up my camera, ready focussed, on a tripod so I could be ready, then bang when the bee entered and left. They have not been back today to my knowledge, so I hope I have not scared them away. M.

[eucera]

A critical difference between the 2 species is in the nature of the hairs on T6. In M. willughbiella, there are very short adpressed hairs, through which long hairs protrude; in M. ligniseca, there are only the very dense adpressed hairs.

Both views suggest that T6 has both long and short hairs which would indicate M. willughbiella... however the scopal hair colours are more similar to those of M. ligniseca!

[mickmassie]

Thanks Eucera. I'll assume M willughbiella until proven otherwise.

How many leaves (and eggs) make a nest for Megachile ? I was expecting the tube to be filled up. And .. does an individual female make multiple nests ?

The parasites are starting to gather at this particular tube.

At different stages of my short entomological 'career' I have spent hours looking at a bush, then at a tree trunk, then in tussocks, now I am staring at a bundle of sticks on a wall. The observer would suspect insanity.

Mick.

[crazylilthing]

Originally Posted by mickmassie

How many leaves (and eggs) make a nest for Megachile ? I was expecting the tube to be filled up. And .. does an individual female make multiple nests ?

Hello. I inspected all the nests of my original nest box shortly before the adults emerged at the end of June this year. There were about 6-9 cells in each tube -- here I'm talking about cells just under 10mm square.

The new nest has larger Megachile sp. as the holes are 12-13 mm diameter. Several bees are already building up cells. One was full of pollen when I inspected it this morning and has now been sealed. It's hard to say how many bees are active, but I can assume that as there are three lots of cells being built up concurrently, there are three bees active here already.

These holes are 9 cm deep so can probably accommodate around six cells.

[mickmassie]

Got any pics of the nest box Crazylilthing ? M.

[crazylilthing]

Originally Posted by mickmassie

Got any pics of the nest box Crazylilthing ? M.

My camera is kaput at the moment but let me see if I can work out how to download/upload at least a mobile shot.

I'll report back in a bit.

[crazylilthing]

Originally Posted by mickmassie

Got any pics of the nest box Crazylilthing ? M.

Here's one, showing that a bee has just sealed the last cell using a rose-petal. Is this unusual? I don't think it's the only layer in the seal.





This nest was completed within exactly a week of my construction of the nest box!

Note tile over the nest. It's a crude way of keeping the rain off but it seems to work. This is a south-west facing wall and the nest receives the hottest sun of the day.

This isn't a scientific fact, but from what I've observed, the bees seem to slow down their nest-making activity during the hottest hours of hot summer days and resume when things are a bit cooler. Can anyone confirm this?

The shortest flight from the nest to the source plant and back again took 48 seconds yesterday. The source plant was 20 metres away.

The longest run was nearly 2 minutes, when a comma butterfly appeared to be harrassing the bee on its return flight path, about 5 metres above the nest.

I have seen a comma in exactly the same territory for about a week now --- presumably the same one.