Flying Magic Carpets!

While watering the front garden last night, I saw two different Leafcutter Bees flying on their green "magic carpets" to opposite ends of my garden. It was exactly a month ago that I found a Leafcutter Bee in my backyard making a nest in a tiny space between some bricks. I'm fascinated by this species and wanted to highlight them again.

Instead of a brick, these bees were using the shelter of some landscaping cloth to make their nests. I managed to get the camera pointed at one of the females before she reached the entrance hole. (See Blue Circle - My window of opportunity to get a photo was barely more than the blink of an eye.)

She has almost disappeared under the cloth in the picture. The leaf pieces will be rolled into a tube shape for this solitary nesting species. Each tube is sealed at one end and is used to house one egg and the food the youngster will require after hatching. There may be up to 15 rolled leaves in a cavity. The eggs hatch in about a week and the larva eat the pollen and nectar left by the mother. They will "over winter" in a pupa, emerging as an adult the following spring.

https://wildpollinators-pollinisateurssauvages.ca/2018/07/01/leafcutter-bees/