Carpenter bee
The carpenter bee or commonly called black bumblebee ( Xylocopa violacea ) is, with the Frelon, one of largest the Hyménoptère S of Europe (2,5 to 3 cm length).
Description
The adults, solid masses, measure up to three centimetres and five centimetres of scale. The body, entirely black, with metal blue reflections, is covered with hairs. The membranous Aile S are translucent but dark, their color going from brown-crimson to the purple one. The big size, the dark color, the metal reflections and powerful humming can make confuse this Abeille with a Coléoptère.
Ethology
The imagoes appear at the end of the be, in August in France, and are solitary. Their flight is fast and very noisy. Nectarivores, they like butiner the Fleur S pinks of Ficoïde S and glycine. Although they are not xylophagous, their robust mandibles enable them to dig several parallel galleries which lead to a single opening. With the Spring, a few tens of egg S there are laid and are nourished of a mixture of pollen and nectar, left by the female. The larvae, broken white, measure from two to three centimetres. The female has a dart but is absolutely not aggressive. Usually, they attack the Bois tender or wormeaten, however observers of South-west 2005 and South-east of France report that these bees also attack sound wood, even treated and painted. Since their number seems considerably to increase.According to Martine Rebetez, Climatologist at the federal Institute of research WSL, this sudden increase in their population would be due to the Climate warming.
Representation
The carpenter bee is represented in illuminations of the Grandes Hours of Anne of Brittany.
External bonds
| Random links: | Ice Rain | Nadim Bachir Gemayel | The Community of communes of Issaure | Artistic martial arts | Efix |