Data from: Petals and leaves: quantifying the use of nest building materials by the world’s most valuable solitary bee

The alfalfa leafcutter bee (“ALCB”, Megachile rotundata) is a solitary,
cavity-nesting bee native to Eurasia, managed as an agricultural
pollinator of alfalfa and several other crops in North America since the
1940s (Pitts-Singer and Cane 2011). The most intensively managed and
economically valuable solitary bee worldwide, it serves as a model
organism for studying solitary bee biology (Pitts-Singer and Cane 2011).
Understanding this species’ nesting behavior is critical to its
propagation for commercial pollination services. As its common name
suggests, female ALCBs construct their nests in above-ground holes using
carefully clipped pieces of leaves (Pitts-Singer and Cane 2011).