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Carpenter bees are species in the genus Xylocopa of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. [ 1 ] The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant material such as dead wood or bamboo .
Xylocopa sonorina, the valley carpenter bee or Hawaiian carpenter bee, [2] is a species of carpenter bee found from western Texas to northern California, [3] and the eastern Pacific islands. [4] Females are black while males are golden-brown with green eyes.
It was first described by the English entomologist, Dru Drury in 1773, and is a member of the group of carpenter bees (Family Apidae). The broad-handed carpenter bee is a very large, robust, solitary bee. It is shiny, fully black in colour with fuscous metallic blue-green or purple wings in sunlight.
The primary difference in the appearances of a bumblebee and X. virginica is the conspicuously shining black abdomen.. X. virginica belongs to the genus Xylocopa, which consists of over 400 species worldwide, [7] in the subgenus Xylocopoides, which contains only five New World species, including Xylocopa californica, which also occurs in the U.S.
Carpenter bees sometimes are mistaken for bumble bees, which have a similar appearance. A carpenter bee is about ¾ to 1-inch long and nest in excavated tunnels in wood.
Carpenter bees also have yellow markings and black circles on the thorax and large jaws, which allow them to chew through wood to make holes and build their nests. Another difference between ...