Author Gary Taylor ◦
I’ve had a couple more Megachile nests hatch in the last couple of days, and yes I know that word “hatch” is believed by many to be used incorrectly… Haha and I’ll probably get a stern lecture for it too, but I disagree 😃
Yep I know the life cycle of bees, egg > larva > pupa > adult… but as a pupa it’s still not ready to face the world, it’s only in a thin cocoon of fine membrane, tucked in a tube, protected only by the hard shell (whoops, I mean “cap” 😄) that mum has put up at the opening . Bit like a chook egg, the outer shell is just for protection, the living being is enclosed but it’s within a separate membrane. When it’s capable of surviving, it opens that (the membrane), then it breaks though it’s protective cap (Whoops, I mean “shell” 😅) and hatches 🙂.
Anyway, I’ve had eight or nine hatch in the last couple of weeks… and missed them all 😄 But I caught this one (first pic) thinking about it this arvo 🙂
“Yeah, nah… too bloody cold, I’m going back to bed…” second pic you can just see her bum as she ducks back into her egg chamber, pushing some broken shell bits up at the opening to keep the cold out…
Third pic was the old hen laying her eggs last year, late mid October 🙂
For information on Megachiles and other bees, check out the Bees > Megachile spp.