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Project Noah Nature School
Xylocopa caffra
Xylocopa bees are a bee species that do not produce honey but are important pollinators of crops and wild plants. Male and female individuals have different coloration (female spotting here http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/353...). The genus Xylocopa is a diverse, widely distributed group of solitary bees. Worldwide, there are about 500 species of carpenter bees representing 31 subgenera.
Urban area, (rainy season is about to begin)
He had a very fun dance going on in the air. He was quite close to me (30-40 cm) and kept on turning himself 180 degrees in the air. He kept on doing this for five funny minutes. Xylocopa bees do have quite a painful sting but they are not aggressive and will only sting for defence. Individuals live independently of the others (i.e. they are solitary) or in small groups. Xylocopa bees are larger than honey bees, hairy, often colourful and their wings make a loud buzzing sound while flying. Xylocopa bees nest in tree trunks, in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers. They construct their nests by boring tunnels in wood materials, which is why they are known as carpenter bees.
Spotted on Oct 7, 2013
Submitted on Oct 9, 2013
45 Comments (1–25)
Thank you Mr World Citizen! Are you getting to know your surroundings in France?
Have a great weekend :)
Wow belated congrats, this is amazing :)
Congrats.
Congratulations, Tiz, well deserved SoTD.
Congrats on SOTD!!
Awesome sequence, by the way. Congratulations, Tiz!
A million thanks to you fantastic PN brothers and sisters! My life would be less fantastic without you!
Congratulations, Tjinuska. Vamo que vamo. :]
Congratulations Tiz on your well deserved SOTD
Congratulations Tiz, you did it again!
Congrats Tiz!
Congratulations Tiz !! !!
Congrats on SOTD!
Love Xylocopa, I got the X. aestuans here and the giant X. latipes
Congratulations !
Thank you KarenL and PN. I am vary happy and porud to represent you with this photo :)
Mark, thank you, and yes, you are quite right about the entertaining part, but he does not beat you in that area!
Jemma, that sounds amazing! I have to keep my eyes open for that. And also for them mating, that is a very rare sight...
these are adorable! i saw the drama around a newly eclosed one. Will never forget that!
Congrats Tina. Sounds like this bee is a natural entertainer too.
Tina, your awesome series has earned you Spotting of the Day honors again!
A male carpenter bee hovers mid-air in our spotting of the day. Carpenter bees do not produce honey but are important pollinators of crops and wild plants.
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Thank you so very much Mac and Nayeli :)
António, Nampula is beautiful and quite big nowadays with almost 4 000 000 ppl living here.
A lot of boulders and rocks can be found here, and they seem to be very randomly placed in the terrain. An unique sight to me. The Laterit soil (the red one) can be found here, but in many other parts of Mozambique too. That soil is very valuable when building roads.
The recent findings of gas and oil up here makes this part of the country grow very fast at the moment, and I really hope that this will benefit the area... But I doubt it. Many companies investing here now think about the short term profits, but not as much about the consequences of them...
Great shot Tiz
Awesome, great job!!
amazing Tiz,what a gorgeous bee and what a super series,perfect spotting,congrats and thanks for sharing.
My father was for almost two years in Nampula,in the north,a very wild region,red mud in the rain season make the roads almost impossible ,thats was his story :-) are you enjoying Nampula?
Thank you so very very much for this fantastic comments and likes! I am glad this little fellow was cooperative enough to let me photograph him in flight.
If you are more interested in Carpenter bees I really recommend the reference in the spotting :)
Have a fantastic day!
Tina
Fantastic snap. Great Tiz
wow!!! so nice Tiz.....