A threefold plant specialist – distribution, habitat requirements and nesting biology of the rare leafcutter bee Megachile genalis in the eastern Swiss Alps (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae)
Journal: Alpine Entomology
Year: 2024

The leafcutter bee Megachile genalis Morawitz, which nests in thick, erect and usually hollow plant stems, is rare and endangered throughout Europe. In Switzerland, it was recorded only six times in the Grisons between 1932 and 2019. In order to create the necessary basis for the conservation of this rare bee, its distribution, habitat requirements and nesting biology were investigated in the eastern Swiss Alps by systematically searching for its nests, by DNA metabarcoding of the cell-building