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Slide 7 of 18

Notes:

Megachile rotundata, the Alfalfa Leafcutting Bee, is a solitary bee, which means that each female makes a separate nest. There are no queen and worker castes as in social bees like honey bees and bumble bees, in which the queens lay eggs and workers forage. Female solitary bees all lay their own eggs. M. rotundata typically makes its nest in tunnels in wood. The female bee lines each offspring cell with leaf pieces. When she cuts leaves, she creates a characteristic oblong or circular cutout on the edge of the leaf or petal. She collects pollen on the underside of her abdomen for larval food.