Order Hymenoptera

Family Apidae

The carpenter bees are easily confused with bumblebees. They are similar in size and appearance. The difference lies in that carpenter bees have a smooth texture on most of their abdomen, meanwhile bumblebees are completely covered with hair. Carpenter bees do not eat wood. They drill a hole into the wood to make a nest. The hole will be the entrance to many adjacent tunnels. That is, they do not build the typical honeycombs
They do not sting unless they are provoked. But their size and aspect may cause unnecessary panic to people.

At the reserve both Xylocopa augusti and Xylocopa frontalis have been registered. Females of these two species are easily told apart. Female Xylocopa frontalis has a characteristic feature on the "front" and abdomen bands are red. Female Xylocopa augusti has orange hairs on abdomen sides.

The males of both species are yellow with some dark bands on the abdomen divisions and difficult to tell apart