Agricultural-management
Guides
Megachile pugnata pugnata
sunflower leafcutting bee
Megachile pugnata pugnata is a solitary leafcutting bee native to North America, notable for its specialized association with sunflowers (Helianthus). Females construct nests in pre-existing cavities using circular leaf pieces cut from host plants to form thimble-shaped brood cells. The subspecies exhibits strong instinctive aggregation behavior, preferentially clustering nests even when suitable cavities are abundant. It develops through complete metamorphosis with overwintering as a prepupa, and has been managed commercially for sunflower pollination.
Nomia
sweat bees, alkali bees
Nomia is a cosmopolitan genus of sweat bees in the family Halictidae, comprising approximately 130 species worldwide. These moderate-sized bees are characterized by opalescent bands on the metasoma in many species. They are ground-nesting bees, with most species nesting solitarily and some exhibiting communal nesting where females share a nest entrance but lack queen or worker castes. The genus includes the intensively managed alkali bee (N. melanderi), which is commercially used for alfalfa pollination in the western United States.
Nomia melanderi
alkali bee, Alkali Nomia
Nomia melanderi, commonly known as the alkali bee, is a solitary ground-nesting bee native to the western United States. It is the world's only intensively managed ground-nesting bee, commercially cultivated for alfalfa pollination. The species nests in dense aggregations in moist, alkaline soils and exhibits traits that preceded insect sociality, including defense of offspring against pathogens and predators.