Scientific name : Xylocopa violacea
Violet Carpenter Bees are large, having a body length of 22-23cms. On first impressions the bees appear to be completely black in colour, but when the sunlight catches their wings, a beautiful purple-blue sheen is reflected there, hence the sicientific name ‘violacea‘.
Behaviour:
The bees visit flowering plants and shrubs throughout the spring and summer, but may be seen on the wing as early in February or even January where flowers are present. On cooler days in the early spring they often ‘sunbathe’ on the warm trunks of trees, wooden fence posts and the like. The bees are very efficient pollinators of open flowers but can also use their size and weight to break into long tubular flowers from above and steal the nectar without collecting and distributing any pollen.
Despite their size the bees are not aggressive and their mission in life is simply to collect nectar and pollen from flowers.The male does not have the ability to sting, and as is the case with most species of bee, the female will only sting as a means of self-defence.The males pursue females that they wish to mate with and at that time will also chase off other males that may be in competition.
The name ‘carpenter bee’ is due to their tunneling into dead wood in order to lay their eggs, although they will also utilize an existing tunnel such as a bamboo tube. The female uses her mandibles to chew into the wood, creating tunnels into which she will lay up to 15 eggs. Each egg will be provided with pollen on which to eat when it hatches.
I have seen one of those on Verbena flowers here. What an interesting write up about this creature.
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You can probably tell I love these big beautiful bumbling insects!
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Yes, and it is no wonder you do, they are amazing! 🙂
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Fascinating, thank you! We have seen a few of these in and near our holiday villa outside Gaucin – my son has a slightly horrified fascination with them and id’d them for us. We saw one yesterday at a painfully hip beach bar near Tarifa, disappearing into a hole in a wooden beam above our heads. I actually stumbled across your great blog today after driving past the San Roque storks a few times and heading online to find out more. Lots to read in the 2 days we have left here!
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Thank you for taking the time to comment. I hope you enjoyed your time up in lovely Gaucin and down in Tarifa – it’s such a shame it’s become more hip & trendy over the last few years, but always did prefer it out of season! I can understand why these big beauties make some folks a little wary – my daughter thought I’d called them ‘Violent’ Carpenter Bees when she was younger! Best wishes
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