What is this cute bug?
April 24, 2010
Hello, I was sitting on my porch when I herd something fall from the tree in my yard. I went over to see what it was and saw this cute bug struggling to get on it’s feet. It was brown, furry and about 2 inches in size. I do a lot of macro photography and I need to identify this bug for my photo site.
Thanks, Heather
Guam
Hi Heather,
WE were surprised to see your letter is from Guam, because we were all ready to identify your bee as a male Valley Carpenter Bee, a common species in Southern California that exhibits sexual dimorphism. Females are black and males are a lovely golden color with green eyes. We are confident your bee is a Carpenter Bee, and we would bet that it is also a male and that it might be a close relative of the Valley Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, though of that species BugGuide indicates: “Female is black with brassy reflections, perhaps. Male is a striking tawny brown. Apparently, no other Xylocopa are so sexually dimorphic.“
I think that’s one of the cutest bees I’ve ever seen. 😀
Galapagos Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa darwinii) is similar. We saw them in January, and our guide said we were very lucky to see the males since they aren’t around very long.
This is probably a male Sonoran carpenter bee (Xylocopa sonorina). As far as I am aware, this is the only species of carpenter bee on Guam and they are very common.
Thanks very much for your input.