2019/12/18 by Neha Kunjwal, M. S. Khan, Mohammad Sarfraz Khan +2
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Insect and Pesticide Research #Plant and animal studies
paper · doi:10.1080/00218839.2019.1701776
crossref issued 2019/12/18 · crossref published 2019/12/18 · crossref published-online 2019/12/18 · openalex publication_date 2019/12/18 · crossref created 2019/12/18 · crossref deposited 2021/04/22 · crossref published-print 2021/05/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Investigations on nesting biology of Megachile (Eutricharea) studiosa carried out at Pantnagar (India), revealed that this Megachile species is a leafcutter bee that nests in soil and also in trap nests having tunnel with diameter of 4.79 ± 0.24 mm during summer. The female invested an active time of 49.42 ± 4.24 h to complete its nesting activity in 6–7 days, maximum quantum of time (61.28%) being spent in provisioning the brood cells. The female made 1–6 brood cells in a nest and used leaf pieces of three different sizes to construct a single cell. In their natural habitat, the male progeny had development period of 22.29 ± 1.38 days while the female bees emerged in 29 ± 1 days during May–June at an ambient mean maximum temperature between 33.2 and 38.9 °C. The data on detailed nesting activity, nest structure, plants providing nesting material and larval food presented in this communication is the first report on Megachile (Eutricharea) studiosa Bingham which would help in understanding the ecology, behavior, and role of this leafcutter bee in biodiversity pool.