Stenoxylocopa

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Xylocopinae
Tribe: Xylocopini
Genus: Xylocopa
Subgenus: Stenoxylocopa, Hurd and Moure 1960
Common name: Carpenter bee

Background

Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) are slender, small sized bees, 10 – 15 mm in length, with reddish brown to black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
that is very weakly metallic in bright light. Males have relatively thick grey, black, and pale pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
and females have brown to black pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
. Their wings are light brown to nearly clear with weak to strong iridescent colors of bronze, gold, green, copper, and rose (Hurd and Moure 1963Hurd and Moure 1963:
Hurd, P.D. and J.S. Moure. 1963. A Classification of the Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopine) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology (Vol. 29). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 365 pp.).

Diversity

Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) includes 6 species (Hurd 1978Hurd 1978:
Hurd, P.D. 1978. An Annotated Catalog of the Carpenter Bees (Genus Xylocopa Latreille) of the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 106 pp.; Minckley 1998Minckley 1998:
Minckley, R. L. 1998. A Cladistic Analysis and Classification of the Subgenera and Genera of the Large Carpenter Bees, Tribe Xylocopini (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas 9: 1-47.).

Distribution

Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) is known from southern Arizona in the US and south to Buenos Aires, Argentina (Hurd and Moure 1963Hurd and Moure 1963:
Hurd, P.D. and J.S. Moure. 1963. A Classification of the Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopine) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology (Vol. 29). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 365 pp.; Michener 2007Michener 2007:
Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.).

​Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.

Host associations

Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) is a generalist pollinator and has been recorded visiting flowers from the plant families Asteraceae, Bignoniaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Passifloraceae, and Solanaceae (Hurd 1978Hurd 1978:
Hurd, P.D. 1978. An Annotated Catalog of the Carpenter Bees (Genus Xylocopa Latreille) of the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 106 pp.).

Diagnostic characteristics

(modified from Hurd and Moure 1963Hurd and Moure 1963:
Hurd, P.D. and J.S. Moure. 1963. A Classification of the Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopine) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology (Vol. 29). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 365 pp. and Minckley 1998Minckley 1998:
Minckley, R. L. 1998. A Cladistic Analysis and Classification of the Subgenera and Genera of the Large Carpenter Bees, Tribe Xylocopini (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas 9: 1-47.)

• Malar space short.
• Frontal carinacarina:
  a clearly defined ridge or keel, not necessarily high or acute; usually appears on bees as simply a raised line
  present, weakly elevated, and cariniform.
• Mandibles bidentatebidentate:
  having two teeth
  .
• Scutum scutum:
  the large segment on top of the thorax located between the wings and behind the head
  broadly impunctateimpunctate:
  marked with punctures or pits
  medially.
• Male tegulategula:
  the usually oval, small shield-like structure carried at the extreme base of the wing where it attaches to the body
  posterolateral third impunctateimpunctate:
  marked with punctures or pits
  and shining.
• Male basitibial platebasitibial plate:
  a small plate at the base of the hind tibia, like a kneecap
  present and simple.
• Male S1S1:
  the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, or S8
  apicalapical:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  margin concave.
• Female mandiblemandible:
  bee teeth, so to speak, usually crossed and folded in front of the mouth
  with inner tooth as wide as, or wider as, the outer tooth.
• Female basitibial platebasitibial plate:
  a small plate at the base of the hind tibia, like a kneecap
  present and bifidbifid:
  divided into two branches; forked
  .
• Female pygidial platepygidial plate:
  unusually flat area (a plate) surrounded by a ridge or line and sometimes sticking well off of the end of the bee; if present, found on the sixth upper abdominal segment in females, seventh in males
  strongly diverging apicallyapically:
  near or at the apex or end of any structure
  and with subapicalsubapical:
  located just behind the apex of the segment or body part
  laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  spines present.

May be confused with

Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) is most similar to the subgenus X. (Neoxylocopa). Males can be distinguished by their tegulategula:
the usually oval, small shield-like structure carried at the extreme base of the wing where it attaches to the body
, which are impunctateimpunctate:
marked with punctures or pits
and shining posterolateral third. Females can be distinguished by the inner mandibularmandibular:
near the mandible
tooth that is as wide as, or wider than, the outer tooth (Minckley 1998Minckley 1998:
Minckley, R. L. 1998. A Cladistic Analysis and Classification of the Subgenera and Genera of the Large Carpenter Bees, Tribe Xylocopini (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas 9: 1-47.).

Nesting behavior

It was once thought that Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) nested exclusively in bamboo; however, in 2002 it was found that they also nest in the fibrous branches of the plant genus Vellozia. Due to the fibrous nature of both bamboo and Vellozia, it is suspected that in the absence of bamboo, members of the Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) may use other fibrous plants for nesting (Silveira 2002Silveira 2002:
Silveira, F. A. 2002. The bamboo-nesting carpenter bee, Xylocopa ( Stenoxylocopa ) artifex Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae), also nests in fibrous branches of Vellozia (Velloziaceae). Lundiana International Journal of Biodiversity 3 (1): 953 pp.). 

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

References

Hurd, P.D. and J.S. Moure. 1963. A Classification of the Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopine) (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). University of California Publications in Entomology (Vol. 29). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 365 pp.

Hurd, P.D. 1978. Bamboo-Nesting Carpenter Bees (Genus Xylocopa Latreille) of the Subgenus Stenoxylocopa Hurd and Moure (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 51(4): 746-764.

Keasar, T. 2010. Large Carpenter Bees as Agricultural Pollinators. Psyche doi:10.1155/2010/927463.

Michener, C.D. 2007. The Bees of the World (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 953 pp.

Minckley, R.L. 1998. A Cladistic Analysis and Classification of the Subgenera and Genera of the Large Carpenter Bees, Tribe Xylocopini (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Natural History Museum the University of Kansas 9: 1-47.

Silveira, F.A. 2002. The bamboo-nesting carpenter bee, Xylocopa (Stenoxylocopa) artifex Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae), also nests in fibrous branches of Vellozia (Velloziaceae). Lundiana 3(1): 57-60.