Pink Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa)
Some are white, and apparently tasty. I just wonder what has a mouth shaped like that.
Edited to add:
Thanks to Ron from Toad in the Hole, who let me know that this was the work of leafcutter bees! A.k.a. Leafcutting bees.
I love the latin name: Megachile sp (don't know which one). Family Megachilidae.
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The primroses are blooming along the roadsides here in Missouri now. I think there was an initiative some years ago to cast the seeds (will they grow from seeds?) from cars as they sped down the highways. If so, it seems to have worked. They are such a giving flower that I think I will try getting them started out at my woods.
When I get holes shaped like those on the leaves of roses or redtwig dogwood or a couple of their other favorites, I know it's leafcutter bees. They carefully scissor those cuts on the leaf edges and take the bits home to line the nests they lay their eggs in, each egg separated from its neighbor by another bit of leaf.
They're good pollinators. They do their leafcutting work at night, so we rarely see them in action.
Ahh... So pretty! And soothing!
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