Xylocopa caerulea
| Xylocopa caerulea | |
|---|---|
| |
| Xylocopa caerulea from Penang. Museum specimen | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Genus: | Xylocopa |
| Species: | X. caerulea
|
| Binomial name | |
| Xylocopa caerulea Fabricius, 1804
| |
Xylocopa caerulea, or the blue carpenter bee, is a species of carpenter bee.
Description
[edit]Xylocopa caerulea is a relatively large species, reaching an average size of 23 millimetres (0.91 in). The species is sexually dimorphic, with the thorax region of the females having striking blue color and the male's thorax looking more brownish green.[1] The sides of the abdomen and first abdominal segments are also covered by a similar, albeit finer and thinner coat of blue hairs.[2][3][4]
Distribution
[edit]This species is widely distributed in Southeast Asia, India and Southern China.[5]
Behavior
[edit]Xylocopa caerulea will burrow into trees to make their nests. They usually are solitary, but sometimes multiple bees will share a common entry hole. They create honey which is mixed with pollen to create ambrosia or bee bread. This species will place the bee bread in a wooden chamber which they then lay their eggs on top of. The bee bread serves as a food source for their larvae. [6]
References
[edit]- ^ Mylne, Lee (2025-04-10). "Journey to the heart of the outback with APT". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
- ^ Bingham, Charles Thomas, and Claude Morley. Hymenoptera... Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis, 1897.[page needed]
- ^ Ospina, Mónica. "Abejas carpinteras (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae: Xylocopini) de la región neotropical." Biota Colombiana 1.3 (2012): 239-252.
- ^ Anzenberger, Gustl (2010). "Ethological Study of African Carpenter Bees of the Genus Xylocopa (Hymenoptera, Anthophoridae)1". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 44 (4): 337–374. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1977.tb01001.x. ISSN 0044-3573. PMID 563151.
- ^ "Untitled Document". vespa-bicolor.net.
- ^ Mylne, Lee (2025-04-10). "Journey to the heart of the outback with APT". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
Further reading
[edit]- Ruggiero M. (project leader), Ascher J. et al. (2013). ITIS Bees: World Bee Checklist (version Sep 2009). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 11 March 2013 (Roskov Y., Kunze T., Paglinawan L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Culham A., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Hernandez F., De Wever A., eds). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/col/. Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- John Ascher, Connal Eardley, Terry Griswold, Gabriel Melo, Andrew Polaszek, Michael Ruggiero, Paul Williams, Ken Walker, and Natapot Warrit.[full citation needed]
External links
[edit]- "Xylocopa caerulea". The Encyclopedia of Life.
- "Xylocopa caerulea". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
