[Pollinator] Megachile sculpturalis (Giant Resin bee)

[Peter Bernhardt]

Der Colleagues:

Students in the Bernhardt/Meier lab (St. Louis, MO) have been capturing
specimens of the giant resin bee (*Megachile sculpturalis*) for the last
week.  You may have seen this huge insect and not recognized it.  If not,
there are videos on Youtube and this link should be helpful.

http://ala2.science.unsw.edu.au/mp/20q?search=Megachile+sculpturalis

Does anyone have dependable information on the introduction of this species
to North America?  One site said it came from Japan but was not recorded in
America until 1994 (east coast, South Carolina?.  The Youtube sites show
someone culturing this bee in Ontario using bee houses with much larger
holes (as for *Osmia*).  Does anyone really know when, how and why this
large bee was imported and released?  Considering the foraging habits of
megachilds was it expected to pollinate legume crops or
cranberries-blueberries?

Peter
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