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A blue bumble bee.
February 12, 2010
Is there such a type of bee?
kF TUNG
Malaysia

Blue Carpenter Bee

Dear kF TUNG,
This is a gorgeous bee.  We will try to identify it properly, but until then, we want to post it and see if our readers have any luck with identification.

Hello Mr.Marlos,
Perhaps a few more photos of the blue bee to help you and your readers to better identify it.
KFTung.

Blue Carpenter Bee from Malaysia

Thanks KFTung,
We are thrilled to post the additional images of this gorgeous blue bee, but we doubt they will assist us in the identification.  We spent a goodly amount of time searching the web in vain, and we are going to have to depend on assistance from our readers.  Your photos are great.  The only images of a Blue Bee we found were not your species, nor were they anywhere near as gorgeous as your insect.

Blue Carpenter Bee from Malaysia

Daniel:
So sorry I’m falling behind in keeping up with the posts….
The blue bee from Malaysia is a carpenter bee, Xylocopa caerulea.  Magnificent images of a gorgeous insect!
Eric

Thanks Eric,
Armed with a name, we were able to locate a website that says:  “Carpenter bee
A large bee, reaching slightly more than 23mm. Female is mainly black. The thorax is covered with light blue hairs, making it almost fully blue except for a small black patch in the centre. The first abdominal segment and sides of the abdomen are also lined with similar but finer and more sparse blue hairs. I am not srre of what the male looks like, although he is supposed to be similar but lighter in body colour with long blue hairs on part of his head!
This species is apparently quite widely distributed across Southeast Asia, as well as India and parts of China (Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan).
This beautiful and distinctive carpenter bee is apparently found in Singapore; I have sighted it in MacRitchie Reservoir once, but was unable to catch it since I was inside the nature trail, where capturing anything is explicitly forbidden. I have also not been able to photograph it; it has been photographed a couple of times by local photographers. Having only seen it once and only for a few seconds, I hope to be able to learn more about its behaviour and nest sites in future, and to also photograph it.”

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