Leafcutter bees
Megachile spp.
Bee
Genus-level entry for the solitary leafcutter bees, named for the way females snip smooth semicircular pieces from leaves and petals to line and seal their brood cells. They are cavity nesters, using hollow stems, beetle borings in dead wood, and similar pencil-sized tunnels, which makes them ready users of stem habitat and bee hotels. As largely polylectic (generalist) foragers, they carry pollen on a dense brush of hairs on the underside of the abdomen rather than on the legs, and are productive pollinators of summer legumes and composites in the garden. The neat crescent notches they leave on rose, redbud, ash, and lilac leaves are cosmetic damage to the plant, not a health problem.
Conservation
There is no genus-wide formal listing, and many of the roughly 240 leafcutter bee species native to North America are not individually assessed. A NatureServe conservation review found that a substantial share of native North American Megachile species may face conservation concern, while the widely managed alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata) is an introduced Eurasian species and is not considered threatened. Treat the genus as a mix of secure, data-deficient, and at-risk species rather than assigning a single status.
Plan for this species
Location-fit plant set for Chicago, IL: host and specialist plants first, then nectar, fruit, seed, foliage, and shelter plants that still fit the current and mid-century climate read.
0 essential relationships / 6 supporting plants
Host/specialist links: 0
Forage/pollination links: 6
Shelter links: 0
Relationship roles: 2
Apple
Supporting / Plants this species pollinates
European pear
Supporting / Plants this species pollinates
Sweet cherry
Supporting / Plants this species pollinates
Field scabious
Supporting / Nectar plants
Solitary leafcutter bees (Megachile) work the accessible pincushion heads for nectar; field scabious is an important meadow forage plant for a range of wild bees, some of them declining in its native range.
Beauty bush
Supporting / Nectar plants
Solitary leafcutter bees visit the nectar-rich bells opportunistically; the tie is general rather than specialized to this Asian shrub.
Blue sea holly
Supporting / Nectar plants
Solitary leafcutter bees join honey bees and other pollinators on the nectar-rich, egg-shaped steel-blue heads during the summer bloom.
Plants in the catalog
Plants this species pollinates · 3
Nectar plants · 13
Solitary leafcutter bees visit the nectar-rich bells opportunistically; the tie is general rather than specialized to this Asian shrub.
Solitary leafcutter bees join honey bees and other pollinators on the nectar-rich, egg-shaped steel-blue heads during the summer bloom.
Long-tongued leafcutter bees forage the flower spikes for nectar alongside the honey bees and hoverflies that crowd the bloom.
Solitary leafcutter bees (Megachile) work the accessible pincushion heads for nectar; field scabious is an important meadow forage plant for a range of wild bees, some of them declining in its native range.
Solitary leafcutter bees join the honey bees on the soft-yellow summer flowers for nectar; graded plausible generalist foraging on a Mediterranean labiate rather than a species-specific documented tie.
Solitary leafcutter bees readily visit the blue, nectar-rich spikes alongside honey bees through the long midsummer-to-autumn bloom.
Solitary leafcutter bees visit the hooded flowers for nectar over the summer bloom; the deep, hooded shape suits a longer-tongued solitary bee, cited as plausible generalist foraging.
Solitary leafcutter bees and other wild bees visit the accessible daisy flowerheads for nectar and pollen alongside honey bees during the long summer bloom.
Long-tongued leafcutter bees can reach into the cup-shaped bells for nectar alongside the bumblebees that are the flower's main visitors.
Leafcutter and other solitary bees forage nectar on the summer flowers, drawn to a warm, sharply-drained, sunny position.
Solitary leafcutter bees visit the lipped germander florets for nectar, the broad lower lip serving as a landing platform; graded plausible generalist foraging on a Lamiaceae nectar source rather than a species-specific documented tie.
Solitary bees visit the trumpet flowers for nectar; in the Americas hummingbirds also work the blooms, though that tie is described in prose rather than as a wildlife row.
Small solitary bees such as leafcutter bees are plausible visitors to the modest late-summer flowers in a dry, sunny garden, but the plant's value here is aromatic foliage rather than a strong nectar draw.
Pollen plants · 17
The open, easy-access flowers with prominent stamens offer pollen to generalist solitary bees such as leafcutters that are active over the late-spring to early-summer bloom.
Long-tongued solitary bees visit the fragrant flowers for pollen and nectar across the dry, sunny sites these pinks favour.
Solitary leafcutter bees forage pollen from open Asteraceae heads like this one; listed as a plausible native-bee visitor rather than a recorded specialist tie.
Shelter plants · 2
Range
Diverse across North America, with roughly 240 species native to the continent; specific species depend on region. The commercially managed alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata) is a non-native species introduced to the United States by the 1940s.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/leafcutter-bees
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
UF/IFAS Featured Creatures: Leafcutting Bees
Extension profile for North American leafcutting bee diversity, abdominal pollen scopa, cavity/soil/stem nesting, leaf-cutting behavior, crop and wildflower pollination, and cosmetic leaf damage.
Wikipedia: Megachile
Corroborating genus reference for Megachile taxonomy, worldwide diversity, leaf/resin nesting materials, and managed alfalfa leafcutter bee context.
GBIF: Megachile
GBIF backbone genus Megachile (Megachilidae) confirmed by an exact genus-rank match on usageKey 1335011.
iNaturalist: Megachile
iNaturalist genus Megachile (leafcutter, mortar, and resin bees) with observation-backed distribution data.