Photo: Pyrhan / CC BY-SA 4.0
Xylocopa violacea
Violet Carpenter Bee
The Violet Carpenter Bee is the largest bee in Switzerland, reaching 20–28 mm in length, with a massive all-black body and large dark wings that shimmer iridescent blue-purple in sunlight. Despite its bumblebee-like appearance it is solitary: the female bores nesting tunnels into dead wood, rotten tree trunks, or wooden garden structures using her powerful mandibles. She provisions brood cells with a pollen-nectar paste and seals them with chewed wood pulp. It is polylectic but shows clear preferences for Fabaceae and Lamiaceae flowers. Males can be identified by their yellow-tipped antenna segments 11 and 12. Active from March to October, it is univoltine with one generation per year. In Switzerland it occurs in warm lowland areas, especially in the Valais, Ticino, Geneva, and around Zurich, in orchards, gardens, parks, and forest edges. Swiss Red List: Least Concern (LC).
Species Facts
- Size
- 20–28 mm
- Flight Period
- March to October
- Nesting
- Wood
- Specialization
- Generalist
- Abundance
- Uncommon
- Family
- Apidae
External Sources
This data has been cross-referenced with national sources:
Data Source & Copyright
| Category | Source / Author | License |
|---|---|---|
| Photo | Pyrhan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Taxonomy & Distribution | InfoFauna Switzerland | Public data |
| Global Distribution | GBIF | CC BY 4.0 |
