A4.

03S

Student

Activity 4.3 Ecological niche of a leaf-cutter bee

Purpose

To consider the ecological niche of a leaf-cutter bee.

Working out the niche

In this activity you will be a nature detective and work out one way the leaf-cutter bee is exploiting
its environment an aspect of this type of bees ecological niche.
Figure 1 shows a leaf-cutter bee holding a piece of leaf which it has cut from a rose bush. Figure 2
shows rose leaves after a visit by leaf cutter bees. These bees eat nectar and pollen, so they are not
using the leaves for food.

Figure 1

Leaf-cutter bee and piece of leaf

cut from a rose bush

Figure 2 Rose leaves cut by leaf-cutter bee.

Questions
Q1 Look at the shape of the leaf pieces cut from the rose bush. There are two main kinds of shape. Draw a
diagram of the two shapes. Work out the approximate ratio of one shape to the other.
Q2 Suggest what sort of structure the bee could make from these leaf pieces.
Q3 Suggest how the bee might use the structures created.
Q4 Comment on whether these bees should be considered garden pests.

Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology, Pearson Education Ltd 2008. University of York Science Education Group.
This sheet may have been altered from the original.

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