''Trachusa perdita'', the California leafcutting bee, is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae. ''Trachusa perdita'' inhabits semiarid hillsides with shrubbery or tall grass growth.

Description

''Trachusa perdita'' is a dark grey bee with white bands of hairs on its abdomen. Its

pollen basket The pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) is part of the tibia on the hind legs of certain species of bees. They use the structure in harvesting pollen and carrying it to the nest or hive. Other species of bees have scopae instead. Ety ...

is located under its abdomen, and the bee grows from one-half inch to three-eighths of an inch. Like most bees, ''Trachusa perdita'' feeds on nectar - only the larvae of this species feed on pollen.

Reproduction

''Trachusa perdita'' nests are made when female bees burrow diagonal tunnels into hillsides, which branch off into the individual brood cells. Each brood cell is a small cell lined by leaves and provisioned with nectar and pollen. Once the cell is provisioned with the nectar and pollen, an egg is placed in the cell, where the bee will grow. The nests of ''T. perdita'' are lined only with the leaves of the Buckthorn Shrub. The only other known North American bee in the genus ''Trachusa'' occurs in California as well.

References

External links

Colorado State University "Extension" - Leafcutter Bees no. 5.576
Megachilidae Hymenoptera of North America Insects described in 1904 Taxa named by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell {{Megachilidae-stub