Megachilen.
/ˌmɛɡəˈkʌɪli/, U.S. /ˌmɛɡəˈkaɪli/ Entomology.
A genus of leaf-cutting bees (family Megachilidae); (also megachile) a bee of this genus.
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1828 J. Curtis Brit. Entomol. V. Pl. 222 (caption) Although Osmia is nearly related to Megachile, there are considerable differences in the trophi.
1860 Chambers's Encycl. I. 798/2 Some species of Megachile, Osmia, &c., line them [sc. their nests] and divide them into cells with portions of leaves or of the petals of flowers.
1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 368 The..Bees of the genus Megachile are commonly known as Leaf-cutters.
1913 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre Life of Fly i. 19 They are Megachiles, carrying under their bellies their black, white or blood-red reaping-bushes.
1972 L. E. Chadwick tr. W. Linsenmaier Insects of World 289/2 Especially widely known are the cells made of interwoven pieces of leaves, or more rarely of thin bark, by many leafcutting bees (Megachile).
1996 Caribbean Jrnl. Sci. 32 365 (title) Plants used by bees of the genus Megachile for construction of nest cells.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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