Sumatran leaf-cutter bee with a zebra-mimicked abdomen - Megachile sp.

These images were captured yesterday afternoon in North Aceh's hinterland. I was able to capture a big leafcutter bee (Megachile sp.) on my smartphone camera.

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This bee resembles the Texas leafcutter bee, or Megachile texana, a native bee to the United States and Southern Canada based on its physical appearance. However, given that it is found in Indonesia, I dare not assume that this bee is a member of the Megachile texana species.

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I've seen a leafcutter bee that resembles this before, but it was black with blue stripes as opposed to this one's white with black stripes and zebra-like patterns on its abdomen.

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Since I couldn't find any other bees of that same species in that environment, I came to the conclusion that this bee lived solitary. And there is no doubt that it is a pollinator.


All of the images here are my own work, taken with Xiaomi POCO NFC smartphone and an assembled external macro lens.

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