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Hey I’m on my way out, but I’ll quickly introduce myself. Bees like me are commonly called “leaf cutting bees” because we cut little pieces of leaves or flower petals to wrap our baby's food. Like other solitary bees, we collect pollen and provision it for our young. My secret is wrapping that pollen in leaves to prevent drying. There are 1500 species in my group, so I can’t speak for them all, but it’s a pretty unique trick!
Hi there, I’m commonly known as a “mason bee” because instead of leaves (like my friend Megachile), I use mud or other “masonry” to house my babies. Not to brag but, we are really great at pollinating crops that you humans enjoy such as apples, blueberries, cherries and many more! In fact, some of us can be 100 times better than honey bees at pollinating fruit so we are in high demand to say the least.
Hi friends, we are known as the “rotund resin bee” and like all our fellow craftswomen on this call the females get resourceful building their nests. Unlike the others, they build them out of resin and don’t need to dig or find a crevice. Since I’m a male, I usually just lurk around the flowers waiting for the chance to mate with one of these hardworking females. That’s actually what I’m doing right now...
Hey, you may notice that I look really different from the female Osmia here with us. It is common for males to look different from females, in fact it has a name -- sexual dimorphism. You can tell us apart by my blonde little hair tuft - females don’t have quite the mane that I do. We emerge earlier than the females and wait around to mate with them. A simple life we lead.
Hi there, I’m surprised no one in this breakout room has called attention to our beautiful strong mandibles. Check them out, they look like little scissors huh? We use them to cut the leaves Megachile talked about. FYI - I’m a pretty rare find and the only member of my group in North America. I am not as picky as many of the other Megachilids on this call and can enjoy most flowers.
Hi, I’m sorry I’m a bit distracted today but as I look away check out my ocelli (the three dots on my head). They are not unique to bees, but we especially need them to navigate flight and orient to the sun. I’m a super quick flier and so I cherish my ocelli. Another fun fact about our family, which no one has touched on yet, is that we all collect pollen on our bellies. It’s an easy way to tell us apart from the others!
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