Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Megachile

Megachile

1 9.9
A group of bees that cut leaves to build nests
  • noun
  • Specialized
: Megachile
  • Scientists observed a Megachile as it collected bits of foliage to use in its hive.

Examples

  • "My entomologist loved Lycaeus best of all, since here he discovered a bee specimen thought not to exist outside the Caucasus: the Megachile diabolica."

    Academic text (1998)

  • The Megachile bees are known for cutting leaves to build their nests.

  • Another bee that looked promising in Cane's preliminary tests: a honey bee-sized leaf cutter called Megachile addenda.

    Academic text (2000)

  • During a garden walk, I spotted a Megachile buzzing around the flowers, gathering materials for its home.

Surface Forms

Megachile singular
Megachiles plural

Etymology

Megachile comes from the Greek parts mega- meaning 'large' and cheilos meaning 'lip'. So the name fits these leaf-cutting bees, which have big 'lips' or jaws they use to cut pieces of leaf.