Green Carpenter Bee in Quinkan Country far north Queensland

''Xylocopa bombylans'', the peacock carpenter bee, is a species of

carpenter bee Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant m ...

found in Australia. It gets its common name by its habit of burrowing into wood. It was originally described by Danish naturalist

Johan Christian Fabricius Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

in 1775. Its specific epithet is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

' "like a bumblebee". The name is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

( / '') "wood-cutter". As its name implies, the peacock carpenter bee is a metallic blue-green or green in colour, although it may even appear purplish from some angles. A large stocky bee, it is often heard by its loud low-pitched buzzing while flying between flowers. The male has white face markings. The bee does have a sting which is potentially painful, although no stings have been recorded. The natural distribution is from the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupació ...

in north Queensland south along the eastern seaboard to the Sydney region (where it overlaps with '' X. aerata''). They can be seen from spring to autumn, commonly feeding at pea flowers of the family Fabaceae, such as ''

Gompholobium ''Gompholobium'', commonly known as glory peas or wedge-peas, is a genus of plants in the pea family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. Most species have compound leaves composed of three leaflets and all have ten stamens which are free fro ...

'' species, including '' Gompholobium latifolium'' in spring, and '' Pultenaea elliptica'' in autumn. It is a pollinator of ''

Melastoma affine ''Melastoma affine'', also known by the common names blue tongue or native lassiandra, is a shrub of the family Melastomataceae. Distributed in tropical and sub-tropical forests of India, South-east Asia and Australia, it is a plant of rainfores ...

''. Other flowers visited include those of ''Banksia'', ''Xanthorrhoea'', '' Hardenbergia violacea'', '' Tristania'', '' Leptospermum'', '' Aotus'', '' Cassia'' and '' Leucopogon''. The Peacock carpenter bee nests by hollowing out stalks of grasstrees (''

Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants endemic to Australia. Species are known by the name grass tree. Description All are perennials and have a secondary thickening meristem in the stem. Many, but not all, ...

''), or soft wood such as ''

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range ...

'', ''

Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fa ...

'', '' Melaleuca'' and ''Leptospermum''. The female excavates a tunnel with her jaws and picks up and dumps the wood shavings outside. The hollow can reach long by in diameter. Larger pieces of wood may allow for multiple tunnels. Several female bees may use a nest, one breeding and the others guarding. A bee defends the wide entrance by blocking it with its abdomen (compare '' Allodapula''). Both male and female bees may overwinter within the tunnels. The tunnels are partitioned into several cells, where the mother bee lays an egg in each accompanied by provisions of nectar and pollen.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2417396 bombylans Hymenoptera of Australia Insects described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius