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Animal profile

Eastern Carpenter Bee

Xylocopa virginica

InsectaWoodland edges, gardens and human structures with exposed unpainted softwood

Field profile

The eastern carpenter bee is a large, shiny-abdomened bee that excavates nest tunnels in dead wood rather than building comb. Females chew galleries and provision a line of cells with pollen. Males are territorial, conspicuous, and completely stingless.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-12-01

Eastern Carpenter Bee

The hovering male carpenter bee cannot sting

Male carpenter bees patrol nest entrances and rush at anything that passes, which reads as aggression. A sting is a modified egg-laying organ, so no male bee of any species possesses one at all.

Read with evidence →

Eastern Carpenter Bee | Daily Animal Facts