Xylocopa violacea

Foto de carmelom, su galeria en Focofijo

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Apoidea
Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Xylocopinae
Tribe: Xylocopini

Spanish:
Es un insecto de más de 2,5 centímetros de tamaño. Los machos se distinguen de las hembras y de otras especies similares por tener dos segmentos rojizos en las antenas, que son negras. Tienen un cuerpo peludo de color negro, y unas espléndidas alas de color morado iridiscente.
Este animal que se asemeja a un abejorro, vive solitario, y excava galerías en la madera muerta o algo podrida, donde pondrá los huevos separados en celdillas rellenas de polen que servirá de alimento a las larvas. Las celdillas se taponan con material vegetal masticado.
Pasan el invierno en agujeros más o menos profundos, para despertar en primavera y proceder a la fecundación.
Tienen un importante papel como polinizadoras, pues paran poco tiempo en cada flor y visitan una amplia gama de ellas, además de tener el abdomen y las patas bien recubiertos de pelillos.



English:
Carpenter bees (the genus Xylocopa in the subfamily Xylocopinae) are large, hairy bees distributed worldwide, with some 500 described species and subspecies. They can be important pollinators on open-faced flowers, though many species are also known to "rob" nectar by slitting the sides of flowers with deep corollas. All but the subgenera Proxylocopa and occasional rare individuals in other species build their nests in burrows in dead wood. In several species, females will live in tunnels alongside their own daughters or sisters, creating a sort of social group. They use wood bits to form partitions between the cells in the nest. A few species bore holes in wood dwellings and earn the enmity of some homeowners, though others regard them as pets. Since the tunnels are near the surface, structural damage is minor or nonexistant.
There are two very different mating systems that appear to be common in carpenter bees, and often this can be determined simply by examining specimens of the males of any given species. Species in which the males have large eyes are characterized by a mating system where the males either search for females by patrolling, or by hovering and waiting for passing females, whom they then pursue. In the other type of mating system, the males often have very small heads, but there is a large, hypertrophied glandular reservoir in the mesosoma, which releases pheromones into the airstream behind the male while it flies or hovers. The pheromone advertises the presence of the male to females.



French:
Le Xylocope, Xylocopa violacea, ou abeille charpentière, est l'un de nos plus grands et plus impressionnants Hyménoptères, cet insecte relève de la famille des Apidae. Contrairement aux espèces précédentes, qui elles vivent en colonies, le Xylocope est une abeille dite "solitaire".
Comme tous les Hyménoptères cet insecte est doté de 4 ailes. L'insecte atteint 45 à 50 mm d'envergure, pour une longueur de 25 à 30 mm, et il est fondamentalement noir-violacé, le violacé étant plus nettement marqué au niveau des ailes, et perceptible sous incidence favorable.
Le Xylocope est un butineur, et sa "trompe" est particulièrement robuste et bien développée. Ses mâchoires le sont tout autant ce qui lui permet de creuser le bois pour nidifier, étant entendu qu'il s'attaque le plus souvent à des parties plus ou moins dégradées.


Larvas / Pupas


First days