Metallic Carpenter Bee - Xylocopa (Lestis) bombylans
Family ANTHOPHORIDAE
This page contains pictures and information about Metallic Carpenter Bees that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia. They are also known as Peacock Carpenter Bees or Green Carpenter Bees..
- Body length 20mm
- This is a large and hairy bee, with metallic black abdomen and thorax. Wings are tinted dark brown in colour. They are solitary, i.e., living on its own, not like the Honey Bees that living in group. They nest in the flower stem of grass trees Xanthorrhoea sp. or single tunnel in wood.
- We usually saw the Metallic Carpenter Bees early in the morning gathering nectar from the blooming flowers. They fly quickly from flowers to flowers.
- Reference:
- 1. Native Bees of the Sydney region, a field guide - Anne Dollin, Michael Batley, Martyn Robinson & Brian Faulkner, Australian Native Bee Research Centre.
- 2. Peacock Carpenter Bee - Australian Museum, 2009.
