Thursday, September 11, 2008

Leafcutter Bees

Do your rose bush leaves have smooth round holes in them? The likely culprit is the female leafcutter bee. The bee cuts smooth round or oval leaf fragments and uses them to line each underground brood cell that she fills with nectar and pollen. When the cell is ready, a single egg is sealed inside. The larva pupates (matures) in the chamber and emerges in the spring. The hole in the leaf is much larger than an ordinary caterpillar would make and is very smooth as if a miniature cookie cutter was used. The bee can chew off a leaf fragment in less then a minute with its sharp jaws. The leafcutter bee is considered to be a beneficial insect. And rose leaves seem to be their favorite.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is a nice photo of such a bee carrying home a leaf at Robin's Nesting Blog

Shahid said...

Reminds me of the days in Singapore when my mother grew roses in pots, and on occasion, we would find nice round holes punched out in the leaves, until one day we saw an insect cutting out the leaf and fly away with it.

Doubt very much that that little insect or its descendants followed me here, but certainly is refreshing to see them working so hard.... so long as they leave a few leaves for the roses...