rss A Queen Bee of some kind?
Location: Phoenix, AZ
April 10, 2012 8:01 pm
Found this flying around me in Phoenix AZ on 04/10/12. Can you tell me what it is?
Signature: bdbengtsson
Male Valley Carpenter Bee
Dear bdbengtsson,
Your “queen bee” is actually a male Valley Carpenter Bee. This is a sexually dimorphic species and the female is a deep black color.
Stumped by a backyard find!
Location: Wake Forest, NC
February 3, 2012 5:34 pm
My dog found this insect in our backyard yesterday 2/2/12. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m hoping you can help tell me what it is!
Thank you!
Signature: Megan
Eastern Carpenter Bee
Hi Megan,
This sure appears to be an Eastern Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa virginica. You can view higher resolution images on BugGuide for comparison.
Found in Pomona, CA
Location: Pomona, CA
November 10, 2011 2:21 pm
IDK if its a Bee or Beetle? or anything else
Signature: Southern CA Resident
Valley Carpenter Bee
Dear Southern CA Resident,
This is a male Valley Carpenter Bee. Females of the species are black and larger.
Bumblebee found on Autumn Joy
Location: Decatur, GA
September 19, 2011 9:49 pm
Hi, I found this bumble bee on an Autumn Joy in front of my house yesterday. What interested me about it was its beautiful eyes. What species of bee is this?
Also, many bees on the flowers are very slow moving. Why is that?
Signature: Adrya Stembridge
Bumble Bee
Dear Adrya,
There are so many Bumble Bees in the genus Bombus, which is further classified into numerous subgenera, that we are often confused when it comes to species identifications. Typically, the markings on the abdomen are used in identification, and your photo does not clearly show the abdominal markings. You can try browsing the numerous species on BugGuide and you will see how difficult it can be to correctly identify a Bumble Bee. As the weather begins to cool, the metabolism of insects slows down, and the approach of winter might be the reason your bees are moving slower than usual.
Correction courtesy of John Ascher
April 22, 2012
This is very obviously a carpenter bee male Xylocopa virginica not a Bombus!:
need help identifying Bug and Bee
Location: Island of Curaçao in the Caribbean
August 19, 2011 7:08 pm
Hi, I am Garrick Marchena, from the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean and I need help identifying these two insects.
I know one of them is a bee, but i need to know what type of bee. Its certainly a type I’ve never seen or heard of before.
The other is an insect known to our island as one that brings luck. It is called ”Mamoendenge” by our local people, but i need to know the official name. It kinda looks like a Mud Dobber wasp but i don’t think it is. Its back part bobs up and down as it walks.
I really appreciate if you can help, but if you can’t maybe you might know someone who does?
thanks you very much,
wkr
Garrick Marchena.
Signature: Garrick
Carpenter Bee: Xylocopa muscaria
Hi Garrick,
Though we don’t recognize your bee, and we have been unable to locate a match online, we suspect it is some species of Carpenter Bee. The other insect which you call Mameondenge we find very interesting because of the notion that it brings bad luck. This is a beneficial Ensign Wasp, so named because of the bobbing of its abdomen which is thought to resemble a flag. The Ensign Wasp parasitizes the oothica or egg cases of Cockroaches, helping to reduce their population. We wonder if the name the locals have given it is a reference to dengue fever which is spread by mosquitoes. You might want to educate the locals as to the importance the Ensign Wasp plays in Cockroach control.
Ensign Wasp
Thanks for the fast response!!!
Locals say that the Esign Wasp (or Mamonedenge) brings GOOD luck actually! Sorri i wasn’t clear on that.
Now that i know this information I’m gonna love this bug even more!
From what I’ve searched on the internet the bee does look like a carpenters bee. Also seems to be a type of solitary type bee.
This is really awesome!
Let me know if you are going to use the pictures because i would like to add a copyright on them first if you don’t mind.
Thank you very much for your help.
Garrick.
Sorry Garrick,
We somehow inserted the word “bad” before luck in your letter. The images are already posted live and we have cropped them, lightened them and formatted them to our site. Your name is printed with your original email.
Correction courtesy of John Ascher
April 22, 2012
Xylocopa (Schonnherria) muscaria (Fabricius, 1775) female:
Request: Carpenter Bee?
Location: San Antonio, TX Medical Center
July 19, 2011 3:12 pm
Watching and takikng pics of flowers, trees, plants, bugs and other interesting stuff. Was watching a planting of Esperanzas (Tecoma Stans) noting lots of bee activity, then noticed blossoms sort of randomly dropping off. No wind. Got a pic of this bee, do not know if male or female, burrowing into the base of the flowers, I assume extracting nectar, sort of poking in the back door instead of pollinating through the front. Have never seen one this ”metallic” before. HAd much fun stepping around the shrubs trying not to disturb the bees, to get a good shot and also before the UTHSCA Police (Univ Tx Health Science Center San Antonio) ran me off. They plant many interesting drought tolerant flowering plants there an I am usually able to come away from my doc appt with some nice pics.
Signature: Renee
Carpenter Bee
Hi Renee,
This is a Carpenter Bee, and we have watched Valley Carpenter Bees feeding in a similar manner from sweet pea blossoms in our own garden.
Identification courtesy of John Ascher
April 22, 2012
Xylocopa micans
Male Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa varipuncta?)
Location: Hawthorne, California
June 25, 2011 12:46 pm
Hi Daniel,
This beauty (new to my yard) let me photograph him for quite some time yesterday. I’m curious as to what the three black things on top of his head are, can you help?
Signature: Thanks, Anna Carreon
Male Valley Carpenter Bee on Pincushion Flower
Hi Anna,
What a positively beautiful male Valley Carpenter Bee. We saw one visit the Buddleia or Butterfly Bush while we were in the garden. Then we remembered that we began to prepare your posting, so we came back inside to complete the preparation. Those are simple eyes or ocelli forming a triangle on the Valley Carpenter Bees head. There are some drawings and photos on BugGuide. We believe the simple eyes help flying insects navigate, but we are not certain of the exact function.
Big flying orange insect
Location: Las vegas, nv
April 15, 2011 8:19 pm
We currently live in las vegas nv and we have a problem with black carpenter bees but just recently we started seeing these orange furry bees similar to the carpenter bee and has been behaving as one would but they seem to be a lot more aggressive. I would liked to know if they are harmful as I have three young children any help would be great thanks.
Signature: Crystal
Valley Carpenter Bee: Unnecessary Carnage???
Dear Crystal,
This male Valley Carpenter Bee does not appear to have died of natural causes. Female Valley Carpenter Bees are large black bees that spend much of their time gathering pollen to provision a nest that is excavated in wood. We have read in Charles Hogue’s excellent book, Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, that they are especially attracted to telephone poles as nesting sites. The Valley Carpenter Bee exhibits pronounced sexual dimorphism. The male is a beautiful golden color with green eyes. Male Valley Carpenter Bees are incapable of stinging. They do aggressively defend their territory, however, they cannot harm people, including young children, nor will they harm pets. Though female Valley Carpenter Bees might sting, they are not aggressive insects.
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