Large Black Bee - Xylocopa tabaniformis

Moved

… John S. Ascher, 4 April, 2010 - 9:10pm

big beauty

Hi , this looks to be the female Carpenter Bee . Have you seen the fuzzy golden males with the green eyes ? They are very impressive . I learned this about a year and a half ago when I had seen my first Carpenter Bee and posted it here on the Bugguide , sincerely Beth

… Beth Sands, 11 July, 2008 - 7:38am

As a matter of fact...

...That was the very first insect I submitted to Bug Guide. I haven't had much luck trying to photograph the black ones though, so I haven't got much experience with identifying them. I was thinking the females were smaller than this, but I don't know.

… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 11 July, 2008 - 12:40pm

Xylocopa.

There are at least three species of Xylocopa in California. I'm not positive on which one this is, but possibly X. californica which, depending on the subspecies, varies from metallic green to deep metallic blue....

… Eric R. Eaton, 11 July, 2008 - 4:01pm

Thanks Eric-

I never thought of it as deep metallic blue, but it does seem to have metallic blue highlights. For the record, my camera's built in flash was used on all of these shots. I don't think that effected the color much though.

… Arthur Scott Macmillan, 12 July, 2008 - 11:06pm