Carpenter Bee - Xylocopa tabaniformis

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Carpenter and Small carpenter Bees (Xylocopinae) » Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa) » Subgenus Notoxylocopa (Xylocopa Subgenus Notoxylocopa) » Horse-fly Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis) » Xylocopa tabaniformis parkinsoniae

Photo#47446

Copyright © 2006 Victor Engel

Carpenter Bee - Xylocopa tabaniformis -

Austin, Travis County, Texas, USA
April 1, 2006
Size: bumblebee-sized

This bee digs holes in a log in my backyard and hovers around its mandarin tree in the front yard, jealously guarding it from interlopers. Interlopers include other bees, and even birds. If I get really close, it might buzz me or hover over my head, waving around back and forth.

There is another bee with an abdomen that is relatively longer and thinner than this one's. Am I correct in assuming one is the male and the other a female?

I want this identified because the pictures I see of carpenter bees have more yellow than is shown here.

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Contributed by Victor Engel on 10 April, 2006 - 9:58pm
Last updated 4 April, 2010 - 9:13pm

Video

This obviously is a different individual. Nevertheless, I thought I'd post it here. A short video of another individual guarding his bluebonnet patch from interlopers.
http://victorspictures.com/x_tabaniformis/e11cb707e

Taken with a new iPad.

… Victor Engel, 26 March, 2012 - 10:22pm

Moved

Moved from Large Carpenter Bees.

… John S. Ascher, 4 April, 2010 - 9:13pm

Xylocopa (Notoxylocopa) tabaniformis parkinsoniae Cockerell

male

… John S. Ascher, 5 October, 2006 - 1:30pm

Meanwhile, back to the bee....:-)

All this talk about equipment. Geez:-) I'm kidding. The bee in this shot is indeed a male. Males do not generally enter and leave the nest holes as the females do, and females do not have a big yellow patch on the face. This might be a subspecies of Xylocopa tabaniformis, one of the smaller species in the genus. Outstanding images, indeed!

… Eric R. Eaton, 11 April, 2006 - 3:31pm

Awesome shots

Awesome shots! I like the color of the bee's eyes. Looks very pretty.

… Brittanie Christina McCormack, 11 April, 2006 - 3:50pm

Eye Color

The color of the eyes is not really that vivid. Here is a picture taken with natural light.

The coloration here is closer to what it really looks like. However, with flash, the color becomes much more noticeable. I also increased the saturation of the eyes a bit in processing the picture. I didn't take these pictures for identification purposes, so I figured it was OK to use a bit of artistic license.

Now that I've posted the pictures here, though, I suppose it's only fair that I should post a caveat on the color.

… Victor Engel, 11 April, 2006 - 5:38pm

Awesome shots . . .

what are you using that can freeze motion so well?

… Steve Scott, 10 April, 2006 - 10:41pm

Rear view

… Victor Engel, 10 April, 2006 - 9:59pm

Equipment used

Canon EOS 10D, EF 300mm f/4.0 lens, Vivitar flash mounted on the hotshoe. I was about 1.5-2.0 meters away, hoping the bee would stay put longer than a second so I could compose and shoot. Unfortunately, it seemed to move around about as frequently as the length of time it took me to lock on target. So it was very much a hit/miss vs. patience thing. There were no IR triggers or anything like that. Just reflexes and good eyes.

I kept both eyes open, using the left eye as a rangefinder, and the right eye to look through the camera. It's not so difficult to do after you get use to it if you don't have one eye much more dominant than the other.

Victor

… Victor Engel, 10 April, 2006 - 11:02pm

Thanks

Excellent results from patientce! I used to have an Olympus SLR back in college but have been out of it for a couple decades. Working my way back in but haven't confinced my wife the $$ are justified for a digital SLR yet. I'm using a Sony DSC-H1. The 12X zoom is a significant step up for me but still not there.

… Steve Scott, 10 April, 2006 - 11:32pm

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