Photo: Dick Belgers / CC BY 3.0

Megachile ligniseca

Wood-carving Leafcutter Bee

A large leafcutter bee (12–14 mm) with a black body, dense brownish hair on the thorax, and buff-coloured ventral scopa with black hairs on the final two sternites. It nests in aerial cavities in dead wood, fence posts, and artificial cavities, lining brood cells with cut leaf pieces. It is univoltine, visiting thistles, bramble, and Himalayan balsam. In Switzerland it occurs in woodlands, scrub, gardens, and post-industrial sites across lowland and montane regions. Swiss Red List: Near Threatened (NT).