Nodula

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Xylocopinae
Tribe: Xylocopini
Genus: Xylocopa
Subgenus: Nodula, Maa 1938
Common name: Carpenter bee

Background

Xylocopa (Nodula) are slender, small to medium sized bees, 10 – 20 mm in length, that have black integumentintegument:
a tough, protective outer layer
with very faint metallic reflections in bright light. They have a short, primarily black, pubescencepubescence:
short, fine hair
but often have at least some pale hair on the head and thorax. The wings are a medium brown and are moderately iridescent (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 (Nodula) contains 7 species (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.; 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 (Nodula) are known from India (Ascher and Pickering 2022Ascher and Pickering 2022:
Ascher, J.S. and J. Pickering. 2022. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Nodulaamp;name=Xylocopaamp;flags=subgenus:).

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

Host associations

The pollination habits of Xylocopa (Nodula) have not been recorded but most members of the genus Xylocopa are generalist pollinators.

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.)

• Eyes more convergent above than below.
• Malar area malar area:
  the shortest distance between the base of the mandible and the margin of the compound eye
  short.
• Mandibles bidentatebidentate:
  having two teeth
  .
• Scutellum scutellum:
  shield shaped plate behind scutum
  rounded.
• Male ocelliocelli:
  simple light reception organs; bees have three of them at the top of their head
  high on face, laterallateral:
  relating, pertaining, or attached to the side
  ocelli at least partially above summits of eyes.
• Male basitibial platebasitibial plate:
  a small plate at the base of the hind tibia, like a kneecap
  present and simple.
• Male propodealpropodeal:
  the last segment of the thorax
  triangle present.
• Female basitibial platebasitibial plate:
  a small plate at the base of the hind tibia, like a kneecap
  bifid.
• Pygidial plate pygidial 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
  narrow, nearly parallel-sided, 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 (Nodula) is most similar to X. (Maaiana), which was previously included under X. (Nodula). They can distinguished by the shape of the scutellumscutellum:
shield shaped plate behind scutum
, which is more evenly rounded, not narrowly rounded or subangulatesubangulate:
Almost angulate; having a suggestion of corners or angles  
in profile as it is in X. (Maaiana). Male X. (Nodula) can also be distinguished by the presence of a propodealpropodeal:
the last segment of the thorax
triangle (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

Xylocopa (Nodula) is known to nest in dry rhododendron branches (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.; Batra 1977Batra 1977:
Batra, S.W.T. 1977. Bees of India (Apoidea), their Behaviour, Management and a Key to the Genera. Oriental Insects 11(3): 289-324.).

Known invasives

There are no known invasives.

References

Ascher, J.S. and J. Pickering. 2022. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=Nodula&name=Xylocopa&flags=subgenus:

Batra, S.W.T. 1977. Bees of India (Apoidea), their Behaviour, Management and a Key to the Genera. Oriental Insects 11(3): 289-324.

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.

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.