Chiiz Volume 11 : Macro Photography

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Siphoning Nikon D90 105mm F/10 1/160s ISO500 Leaf Cutter Bees Santhosh Krishnamoorthy Mention of the word ‘bees’ brings to mind those huge swarms of buzzing insects living in a very well established social setup, building huge colonies consisting of thousands of individuals. However, very recently did I learn that not all bees live in colonies, i.e., in a social group of many individuals. There are bees that live a very solitary life. One such are the bees belonging to the Megachilidae family, more commonly known as the leaf cutter bees. They are called so, based on the kind of material they use to prepare their nest cells, namely, small pieces of leaves. There are others in this family, like the mason bees, which collect soil as the material for their nest cells. Leaf cutter bees are very important as pollinators. They are not aggressive and have a mild sting that is used only when they Leaf Cutters Nikon D90 105mm F/13 1/125s ISO500 62 Vol <strong>11</strong>
are handled. They cut the leaves of plants and use the cut leaf fragments to form nest cells. They nest in soft, rotted wood or in the stems of large, pithy plants, such as roses.[From Leaf cutter Bees – Quick Facts] One leaf cutter bee had made its home inside a small crevice, in an old rusted gate of an empty site near my house. It was constantly flying to and from its new found home, each time returning with a small piece of something that looked like a fragment of a leaf. Curious about what it was up to, I sat there observing it for a while, over one of the weekends and did a bit of reading on them as well. The crevice was more like an entrance to, what I felt, was a long tunnel inside the frame of the gate. Before flying out to fetch a leaf, the bee, very diligently, would clear the place of small stones, sand and other debris. Then, it would fly out, returning after a while, with a small piece of a leaf. It would enter its home with the leaf and get into the tunnel that it had cleared just before leaving. Since it was holding on to the leaf with its mandibles, it seemed that it wasn’t very easy for the bee to turn the leaf around to align it properly with the entrance to its tunnel home. So, for the initial few times, it used to fly out of the crevice and fly back in at the right angle to be able enter properly. Prep Work Nikon D90 105mm F/13 1/160s ISO500 It flies out only to come back in, at an appropriate angle. Slowly, it seemed to have learnt and thereafter was getting inside very smoothly, with one flight, straight in. This bee wasn’t really going too far to look for its leaf requirements. It had picked a tree close by, to cut out the pieces of leaf from. It was very skillfully cutting out the leaf using its mandibles and it seemed to be flying around the tree looking for the right leaf and upon finding one, was making a very precise cut each time. An interesting fact about the bee’s leaf cutting exercise is that they cut the leaves with their scissor-like mandibles, making smooth, circular or oval cuts from the edges of leaves that are about 1/2" in diameter. According to The Xerces Society, it only takes two or three seconds for the female to cut a piece of leaf. Just before she finishes cutting it, the female starts to beat her wings, so she is already flying by the time the leaf fragment is severed. The cut out designer leaves, thus remain, on the tree but don’t in any way harm it.(Source: Our Native Bees) Also, the pieces of the leaf that are carried into the bee’s home are used to embellish its nest cells and also to separate the individual cells. These cells would then contain one egg each, along with a little bit of nectar and pollen to provide for the larvae that would hatch out of the egg. The females of these bees are the ones that do all the work. It takes an average of 15 leaf pieces or flower petals to line one brood cell, and a total of 20 to 30 trips may be required to gather the necessary pollen and nectar to provision just one cell. Under favorable conditions a female bee may finish an average of 30 cells in her lifetime. [Source: Our Native Bees] Really hard working mothers these leaf cutter bees are indeed! Santhosh Krishnamoorthy Santhosh is a passionate naturalist and an award winning nature photographer. He likes to observe and document the interesting aspects of nature and its inhabitants using photography as a medium. He runs Birdwing Travel & <strong>Photography</strong> where he mentors budding and amateur nature photographers. He also posts as @santhosh.kris on Instagram and blogs at framesofnature.com Nesting Leaves Nikon D90 105mm F/10 1/160s ISO400
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THOSE WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE DISCLAIM
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CONTENTS Inspiring with Photography
Page 9 and 10:
Zebra 400mm F/5.6 1/1600s ISO200
Page 11 and 12: Lion 227mm F/5.6 1/400s ISO160 Gela
Page 13 and 14: Asian Koel Nikon D5500 260mm F/6.3
Page 16 and 17: Oriental Venice, floating fishing v
Page 18: Borderline between North and South
Page 21 and 22: Chinmoy Biswas Kolkata, India Strug
Page 23 and 24: Erik Svec Nove Zamky, Slovakia Weav
Page 25 and 26: Maratus volans with prey - Central
Page 28 and 29: Drone Fly Canon EOS 7D 65mm F/16 1/
Page 30 and 31: Theloderma corticale Nikon D700 105
Page 32: Phelsuma grandis Nikon D700 105mm F
Page 35 and 36: Dreaming Nikon D800 200mm F/8 1/160
Page 38 and 39: Hawk Moth Nikon D800 90mm F/18 1/25
Page 40 and 41: Cyclosa Nikon D800 90mm F/25 1/250s
Page 42 and 43: Lyssomanes Nikon D800 90mm F/25 1/2
Page 44: Ricaniidae Nikon D800 90mm F/25 1/1
Page 47 and 48: Oktoberfest World's Largest Folk Fe
Page 49 and 50: of the final product since 16th cen
Page 51 and 52: Spider Canon EOS 6D 35mm F/6 1/100s
Page 54 and 55: Kurit Afsheen is a 37-year-old free
Page 56 and 57: Rudo Hvizdos was born a traveler. H
Page 58 and 59: Lemon-like Olympus OMD E-M1 60mm F/
Page 60: Movie Review: Samsara (2012) Durati
Page 65 and 66: Micro-filament from an incandescent
Page 69 and 70: Alexey Kljatov’s passion is takin
Page 71 and 72: Shedding Skin
Page 73 and 74: Black-eyed Susan Flower Fuji S5Pro
Page 76 and 77: StrawberryPoisonFrog (Oophagapumili
Page 78: Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira
Page 81 and 82: Harmony Canon Eos-1D X 150mm F/16 2
Page 83 and 84: Scorpion mother with Babies on back
Page 85 and 86: Photographer: Giulio Irving Make-up
Page 87 and 88: Photographer: Anastasiya Sofronova
Page 90 and 91: Swapnoleena Sen Delhi, India Dichot
Page 92 and 93: Kaushal Sakaria Delhi, India Tantal
Page 94 and 95: Sunflower Canon T2i
Page 96 and 97: Bleeding Heart Canon T2i Pink Bloss
Page 98: Fish Canon T2i
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Chiiz Volume 11 : Macro Photography

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