Leaf cutters

It's not often you're offered a face shot by a female Megachile willughbiella: they're usually buried head down in a flower. But I was out quite early this morning, and several of my subjects, including this one, seemed dozier than usual and were easier to photograph. I don't know why this was, because it was warm and sunny, and indeed steamy after overnight rain, so they had no reason not to be well warmed up and active, but I wasn't going to look a gift bee in - oh, wait...

So anyway, these are the very impressive mandibles with which M. willughbiella cuts pieces of leaf to line and seal her nest cells. I've never managed to catch one doing the actual leaf-cutting, though I've seen plenty of evidence after the fact, but I've found a couple of nice videos of her close cousin M. centuncularis collecting leaf pieces here and here. Also, there are nice short films here and here of M. willughbiella flying with leaf discs, a slightly hypnotic one here of a large bee hotel being used by a number of leaf cutters, and a good one here showing the intricate process of sealing the end of a nest tunnel with leaf and leaf mastic.

I hope you enjoy them.