Ornamental-plant-pollinator
Guides
Megachile sculpturalis
giant resin bee, sculptured resin bee
Megachile sculpturalis is a large solitary leafcutting bee native to Japan, China, and South Korea. First detected in North Carolina in 1994, it has become established across much of eastern North America and has spread rapidly through Europe since its first detection near Marseille, France in 2008. Females are notably larger than males and use their powerful mandibles to collect plant resin for sealing brood cells. Unlike carpenter bees, M. sculpturalis cannot excavate wood and relies entirely on pre-existing cavities, particularly abandoned galleries of carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.) in wooden structures.