Eastern Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa virginica
Apidae
The big shiny-butt bee that looks like a bumble bee from the front and a beetle from behind. Solitary, native, and gentle — males have no stinger and hover threateningly but can't hurt you. Females bore perfectly round nesting tunnels into untreated wood, which is where their reputation comes from.
How to spot one.
About 1 inch — big, roughly bumble bee-sized
Fuzzy yellow-and-black thorax
Shiny bare BLACK abdomen — this is the key ID (bumble bees have fuzzy striped abdomens)
Loud, low-frequency hum
Perfectly round 1/2-inch holes drilled into wood
How it lives.
Solitary. Female drills a perfectly round entrance hole into untreated softwood (cedar, pine, fir), then tunnels down the grain and divides the tunnel into brood cells sealed with sawdust. Males hover in front of the nest defending territory but cannot sting. Overwinter in old tunnels; often reuse them for several generations.
The spec sheet.
- Type
- Bee
- Active
- April – September
- Native to NJ
- Yes
- Conservation status
- abundant
- Family
- Apidae
What it needs.
Plants this species visits, feeds on, or depends on. Names in hydrangea link to the plant’s Field Guide entry.
Open-faced wildflowers, garden vegetables, fruit trees
Nectar source
Nectar source
Nectar source
Squash, tomato (nectar-robber sometimes)
Nectar source
Xerces Society · Rutgers NJAES
Others in this group.
- BsBeeNative · NJ
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Bombus spp.
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