Click HERE for a lovely video of the solitary bee Osmia sybarita by researcher and fellow BWARS member Niko Vereecken. This species nests in snail shells, and was filmed in Israel. It also shows the filming capabilities of the Nikon D3s DSLR.
Further images HERE.
In the UK Osmia bicolor similarly nests in snail shells.
Thank you for pointing this out. It is a superb quality video. In Spain I came across Rhodanthidium sticticum nesting on snail shells. A very impressive bee which surprised me when I was collecting what I though were empty snail shells. It seems like a habit that has arisen repeatedly possibly as there is a lack of suitable nesting sites in stems or on the ground.
Yes a very interesting adaptation. Not something I have seen myself.. yet. Another interesting point is many of these shell-nesting Osmia species also ‘decorate’ the shell with plant debris (moss etc), presumably for camouflage. But camouflage from predators or other snail shell-seeking bees!