Monitoring for Impact of the Introduced Leafcutting Bee, Megachile rotundata (F.) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), Near Release Sites in South Australia

Abstract

Native plants from remnant strip vegetation at roadside sites near Keith, South Australia were monitored during the period when leafcutting bees, Megachile rotundata, were managed on nearby lucerne crops. The predominant native plants flowering at sampling sites during the November to March period included Melaleuca uncinata, Melaleuca lanceolata, Baeckia behrii and Bursaria spinosa. No M. rotundata were found on native vegetation. No M. rotundata prepupae were found in 12 microdomiciles placed in a nearby Conservation Park. The results of the monitoring program suggested feral leafcutting bee populations were unlikely to have established in significant numbers and the impact on the local plants and animals was negligible.