Carpenter bee

Carpenter bees are large, sturdy, shiny, black-coloured bees, some species having yellow or white markings on the head or thorax. Many species in this enormous genus are difficult to tell apart; most species are all-black, or primarily black with some yellow or white pubescence. Some differ only in subtle morphological features, such as details of the male genitalia. Males of some species differ confusingly from the females, being covered in greenish-yellow fur. The confusion of species arises particularly in the common names; in India, for example, the common name for any all-black species of Xylocopa is bhanvra, and reports and sightings of bhanvra are commonly misattributed to a European species, Xylocopa violacea.