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Megachile (Megachile) montivaga Cresson, 1878 Counties: Aitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Clearwater, Cook, Faribault, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Koochiching, Lake, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Mahnomen, Mower, Murray, Pine, Pipestone, Polk, Ramsey, Red Lake, Redwood, Roseau, Sherburne, Wabasha, Washington., Published as part of Portman, Zachary M., Gardner, Joel, Lane, Ian G., Gerjets, Nicole, Petersen, Jessica D., Ascher, John S., Arduser, Mike, Evans, Elaine C., Boyd, Crystal, Thomson, Robin & Cariveau, Daniel P., 2023, A checklist of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Minnesota, pp. 1-95 in Zootaxa 5304 (1) on page 69, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5304.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8048569

Megachile (Megachile) montivaga Cresson 1878 County records: Allegan, Baraga, Barry, Berrien, Cass, Dickinson, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Keweenaw, Livingston, Marquette, Mecosta, Menominee, Ontonagon, Schoolcraft, Van Buren. Notes. Megachile montivaga nests in plant stems, including Cirsium (Orr et al. 2015), Helianthus (Hicks 1926), Rhus (Rau 1934), and Verbascum (Hicks 1926), and uses flower petals for nest construction, a trait correlated with reduced cutting edges of its mandibles. Trap-nesting described from Kansas (Baker et al. 1985) and Missouri (1934)., Published as part of Gibbs, Jason, Ascher, John S., Rightmyer, Molly G. & Isaacs, Rufus, 2017, The bees of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), with notes on distribution, taxonomy, pollination, and natural history, pp. 1-160 in Zootaxa 4352 (1) on page 110, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4352.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1063854, {"references":["Orr, M. C., Portman, Z. M. & Griswold, T. L. (2015) Megachile (Megachile) montivaga (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) nesting in live thistle (Asteraceae: Cirsium). Journal of Melittology, 48, 1 - 6. https: // doi. org / 10.17161 / jom. v 0 i 48.4847","Hicks, C. H. (1926) Nesting habits and parasites of certain bees of Boulder County, Colorado. The University of Colorado Studies, 26, 217 - 252.","Rau, P. (1934) Notes on the behavior of certain solitary and social bees. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 28, 219 - 224.","Baker, J. R., Kuhn, E. D. & Bambara, S. B. (1985) Nests and immature stages of leafcutter bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 58, 290 - 313."]}

Although Megachile Latreille (leafcutter bees) are well known for their diverse nesting habits, records of the genus nesting in live plants are rare. Here, we report the widespread Megachile (Megachile) montivaga Cresson nesting in live thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum Gray), the first explicit record of this behavior in the Nearctic.