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Valley Carpenter Bee (female)
Xylocopa varipuncta
33.135, -117.034
Field Notes
Description:
This large, female bee is all black with a bronze/purple sheen to the wings. This one has yellow pollen on its thorax and abdomen. I don't know what the tan, blister-looking things are better seen in the second image. I was able to get one shot before she chased me off. The males are harmless but the females can sting. Usually they're very docile but she didn't like me close to the nest.
Habitat:
A tunneled hole in a cut branch of an Avocado tree in the front yard. This species will "burrow into, and make their nests in, hardwood and telephone poles." "The bees tunnel through wood with their mandibles, although they do not ingest the wood in the process. The tunnels average 6 to 10 in (15 to 25 cm) in length and consist of a linear series of partitioned cells. They prefer untreated or unpainted wood. The adult bees spend the winter in the tunnels."
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