All praise to the pollinators!

It’s National Pollinator Week. While honeybees get most of the media attention, there are some 250 different species of bees found in New York City. Recently, a new species of sweat bee was named after being discovered in Prospect Park.

Here’s yet another type of local bee. This is a genus Megachile leaf-cutter bee, so named because most of the species in this genus cut leaves or petals with their “big lips” (megachile) or jaws, and use the pieces of plant to line their nests. Note the yellow abdomen, which is distinctive for this genus: that’s actually pollen. She has special hairs, called scopa, on the bottom of her abdomen that she uses to carry the stuff. Most other bees carry pollen in bunches around their legs. The Megachile bees are solitary species.