''Megachile pugnata'' is a species of North American

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

in the family Megachilidae. It was described by

Thomas Say Thomas Say (June 27, 1787 – October 10, 1834) was an American entomologist, conchologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. His studies of insects and shells, numerous contributions to scientific journals, and scientific expeditions to Florida, Ge ...

in 1837. Females are 12–18 mm in length while male are somewhat smaller: 11–13 mm. The adults are active from June to September.Discover Life
/ref> Females of this species are

oligolectic The term oligolecty is used in pollination ecology to refer to bees that exhibit a narrow, specialized preference for pollen sources, typically to a single family or genus of flowering plants. The preference may occasionally extend broadly to mult ...

on the pollen of plants in the sunflower family,

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

, and commonly visit ironweeds (e.g. ''

Vernonia fasciculata ''Vernonia fasciculata'', the smooth ironweed or common ironweed, or prairie ironweed is a species of perennial plant from family Asteraceae. It is native to Manitoba in Canada and the north-central U.S.A. ''Vernonia fasciculata'' inhabits areas ...

'') for nectar.

References

pugnata Insects described in 1837 Hymenoptera of North America Taxa named by Thomas Say {{megachile-stub