Bee dangling from a daylily stamen
Megachile sp.
Leafcutter bee · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 12 July 2026
A leafcutter bee gripping a single arched daylily filament in the July border with its whole body hanging below it. Leafcutters are solitary bees of every garden across North America, and the daylilies are where they gather in July.
Daylily pollen is famously messy and sticky compared with most garden flowers, which is why it shows up so readily on a visiting insect's legs and face rather than staying on the anther. Each flower opens for one day only, which is the whole reason for the name, and a plant keeps going by opening a new one each morning.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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