These bees get their common name due to their shiny abdomen that resembles a Carpenter Bee. It is not as large as a Carpenter Bee but larger than a Honey Bee. They have a bulky, shiny, blue-black body. The females have few if any hairs on the upper part of their body, while the males have some whitish hairs on their heads and thoraxes.Their wings can often appear bluish-black as well.
This bee is an Asteraceae pollen specialist, meaning they only collect pollen from plants in the Asteraceae family which includes plants like asters, sunflowers, goldenrods, ironweeds, daisies, coneflowers, etc.
The carpenter mimic leafcutter bee is a solitary bee meaning that each female builds and provisions her own nesting chamber before laying her own eggs in the chamber. A key identifying factor of all members of the leafcutter bee family is that the females gather pollen under their abdomens to carry back to their nesting chambers. Leafcutter bees live up to their name, as they cut pieces of leaves to line their nesting chambers.
Native bees play a vital role in the pollination of native plants
Least Concern
