Chiiz Volume 11 : Macro Photography

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 & Photography 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