A leafcutting bee, Megachile sp. Photo by Drees.
Adults resemble honey bees.
They are mostly black with light bands across the abdomen and a covering of pale hairs on the underside. Females carry pollen on stiff yellow hairs on the underside of the abdomen rather than on the sides of the hind legs like honey bees. Not all species of Megachilidae construct nest cells with pieces of leaves. Carpenter bees also construct cells in holes they dig in structural beams or branches. However, carpenter bees do not construct their cells from pieces of leaves.