Osmia simillima - nest partition material(s)?

[Kathryn LeCroy]

Hello beemonitoring,

Has anybody on this email list seen an Osmia simillima nest before of which they would be willing to share photographs/illustrations/your own personal natural history accounts? It seems there has been some back and forth in the literature a couple of times over as to whether they use leaf mastic or mud. 

Feel free to reply directly to me at kale...@gmail.com . 

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Sincerely,

Kate LeCroy

Kate LeCroy, PhD (she/her)

Assistant Professor, Rhodes College Department of Biology

Environmental Studies and Sciences Program

www.kathrynlecroy.com

kale...@gmail.com

[Colleen S]

Hi Kate, 

I don't have a personal account, but I've been collecting references and working with wood nesting Osmia for a number of years. I have in my notes that they use plant material for their nest walls according to Stubbs et al 1997, and I have a note that there's an account of them shredding strawberry leaves in Saunders 1872 (as O. canadensis), which fits with using veg nest walls idea, similar to other small osmia. 

Colleen

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[Cory Sheffield]

Here is what I have entered on the Bees of Canada website: 

https://www.beesofcanada.com/species/osmia-simillima-smith-1853

Biology: Packard (1868a: 377) recorded it nesting in large deserted oak galls created by the oak-gall fly (Diplolepis confluentus), with 11 oval, urn-shaped cells arranged in two irregular rows; this observation as repeated by Howard (1886: 539). He subsequently (Packard 1889: 186) indicated the large “oak-apple” created by Cynips. Saunders (1872: 237) indicated that the females used masticated strawberry leaves for nest construction, and though the material was identified by E. Cresson (see Saunders 1872: 237), Michener (1951: 1171) indicated that the observations of both Packard (1868a, 1868c) and Saunders (1872) were likely based on misidentifications. However, Scott (1993: 79) confirmed that masticated strawberry leaves used used for nest construction. By contrast, Rightmyer et al. (2013: 11) indicated that O. simillima used mud for nest cell construction and commented that the hooked hairs on the fore basitarsis that may serve a function in nest construction in soil. Scott (1993: 79) indicated that several females were sharing a communal entrance into a piece of driftwood, though the entrace to the cavities in the wood was in the sand.

Graenicher (1906: 153), Peck 1963) and Bouček (1974: 131) Notes it as a host of Leucospis affinis Say, 1824 (Hymenoptera: Leucospidae).

Michener (1951: 1149) recorded Stelis subemarginata Cresson, 1878 as a nest parasite.

On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 10:34 AM Kathryn LeCroy <kale...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Michael Arduser]

Hi folks -

See ref. below.

Scott, V. 1993. "Use of communal nest entrances by Osmia simillima (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)". The Great Lakes Entomologist 26(1): 

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