Carpenter Bee from Australia

bugman

December 22nd, 2008 at 8:28 pm

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Bumble Bee – Australia
Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 11:38 PM
I took this picture on the 21/12/2008 in my garden. Is this a Bumble Bee or a Carpenter Bee? What would be the common name and scientific ID? The bee was moving from flower to flower on a Purple Duranta. It had a loud slow wing beat so that when I took photo’s in flight I could actually get a still picture of the wing.
Nat
Mid North Coast New South Wales Australia

Carpenter Bee

Hi Nat,
This is a Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa aruana, which we identified on the Insects and Spiders of Brisbane website, which indicates: “Body length 25mm They are very large and hairy bees, with black abdomen and yellow thorax. Theirs wings are dark brown in colour. They are solitary, i.e., living on its own, not like the Honey Bees that living in group. In late spring, we found it resting on a footpath, could not fly nor walk, seemed having some problems. We took it home, for the next day it seemed become normal. We let it go. It flied away and disappeared within seconds. They feed on pollen. Females make tunnel and lay eggs in decaying wood, including dry flower sticks of grass-trees Xanthorrhoea .”