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Xylocopa virginica (Linnaeus, 1771) Apis virginica Linnaeus, 1771; Apis virginica Drury, 1773; Apis analis Fabricius, 1775; Centris carolina Fabricius, 1804; Xylocopa texana Cresson, 1872; Xylocopa (Xylocopoides) virginica texana Cresson, 1872, valid subspecies; Xylocopa (Xylocopoides) virginica krombeini Hurd, 1961, valid subspecies; Eastern Carpenter Bee; Apis Virginica; Apis analis; Centris carolina; Xylocopa texana; Xylocopa virginica krombeini; Xylocopa virginica texana; Xylocopa virginica virginica
Life
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Apoidea
Apidae
Xylocopa
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Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1962 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 152. Species: Xylocopa virginica virginica FEMALE: Length 19-23 mm., breadth of abdomen 9.5-10.5 mm.; entirely black, including antennae, legs, spurs and tegulae; wings rather deeply infuscated, veins brownish-piceous to black; cheeks broader than eyes; clypeus flat and slightly concave toward apical margin, median length about half the apical width, apical margin nearly straight; labrum much broader than long, with a robust, basal tubercle, median area elevated above the apical margin which is straight and with a conspicuous fringe of brownish setae; mandibles short, tapering apically, with a distinct, inner, subapical tooth, outer surface shallowly excavated at base; eyes subparallel; vertex broad, lateral ocelli much nearer each other than to its posterior margin, subequally distant from eyes and each other; face with a median carinate tubercle between antennae; basal segment of flagellum only slightly shorter than segments 2-4 combined; posterior margin of hind tibiae with a shallowly concave area that is delimited by a rather sharp carina, this angulate apically; punctures of face below and clypeus close and rather fine, quite deep and distinct, becoming somewhat more widely separated and sparse above, very sparse on vertex laterally and cheeks above, becoming relatively close and somewhat finer on cheeks below; scutum with a polished impunctate area medially, bordered with some very coarse, deep and rather sparse punctures which become very fine and close laterally and anteriorly; scutellum shining between deep, distinct, rather fine and close punctures, these somewhat separated along anterior margin; punctures of pleura rather fine but close and distinct; propodeum dull and tessellate, with scattered, sparse, shallow punctures; abdominal terga shining, punctures minute, widely scattered and sparse; tergum 6 with a median triangular pygidial area that is minutely and rather sparsely punctate, demarked by a series of short, robust, decumbent spines that converge apically, lateral areas of the tergum quite finely and closely punctate; pubescence of head short, erect, entirely blackish or fuscous, very thin on vertex, rather dense on sides of face and cheeks below; scutum, scutellum, pleura above and posterior face of propodeum densely yellowish or tawny pubescent, median area of scutum largely bare, the entire venter, pleura below, and legs black pubescent; basal abdominal tergum with a small amount of pale pubescence anteriorly. following terga practically bare, sterna with a small amount of rather short but erect black pubescence, becoming abundant and more elongate on the more apical segments, forming a rather dense apical fringe. MALE: Length 17-21 mm., breadth of abdomen 7.5-9.5 mm.; black, with bluish or greenish reflections, the clypeus, lateral face marks, lower margin of supraclypeal area, and basal margin of labrum, bright yellow, these forming a nearly straight line just below level of antennae; wings rather lightly infuscated basally, becoming somewhat more deeply so apically, veins brownish-piceous to blackish; cheeks subequal to eyes in width; clypeus nearly flat, its median length about two-thirds the apical width; labrum much broader than its median length, subtruncate apically, the basal maculated area somewhat elevated; mandibles short and rather slender, with a conspicuous, superior, subapical angle; eyes rather strongly converging above, the lateral ocelli in practical contact with inner margin of eyes; lateral areas of vertex practically eliminated, surface entirely occupied by eyes; basal segment of flagellum slightly shorter than segments 2-4 combined; hind tibiae with a very low, submedian, carinate process on outer surface, punctures on lower half of face minute and scattered, rather sparse on clypeus, quite close on lateral maculated areas, slightly coarser and deeper above, quite sparse between eyes above, rather deep and well separated on cheeks; scutum greenish, with a rather limited, median, shining and impunctate area, with a few sparse coarse, punctures on each side, these becoming fine and close laterally and anteriorly, and to a lesser degree across posterior margin; scutellum greenish, shining, punctures quite fine and close, becoming narrowly sparse along anterior margin; pleura shining between fine and rather close punctures; propodeum dull and tessellate, punctures shallow, irregularly scattered and rather sparse; basal abdominal tergum more greenish, punctures rather deep. and distinct, well separated medially, becoming quite close laterally; punctures of the following terga somewhat finer and closer but deep and distinct, quite evenly distributed, but becoming somewhat closer toward lateral margins, somewhat more sparse apically on 4 and 5; pubescence of head erect and rather short, thin on face, rather copious between eyes and on cheeks and vertex, with intermixed pale and dark hairs; scutum, scutellum, lateral and upper faces of mesopleura, posterior face of propodeum and basal abdominal tergum quite densely covered with pale ochraceous pubescence, the thoracic venter and lateral areas of propodeum black or fuscous pubescent; legs in large part black pubescent. but front tibiae with some pale hairs in posterior fringe, the basitarsi with a quite prominent posterior fringe of pale hairs; pubescence of mid and hind legs entirely black; abdominal terga 2-7 entirely black pubescent, pubescence of the more basal of these very short, erect and quite dense but not at all obscuring the surface, that on 5-7 elongate and copious, forming a quite dense posterior fringe; sternum 7 transverse, linear in form and very slender, with a very shallow median emargination; sternum 8 broadly subtriangular, with slender lateral arms, apical margin nearly straight; genital armature as shown (fig. 127). DISTRIBUTION: Kansas to the New England States, south to Texas and Florida, throughout the season. FLOWER RECORDS: Abelia, Bidens, hex, Lespedeza, Malus, Opuntia, Prunus, Rhus, Rubus, Solidago, Stachys and Vaccinium. This has been recorded by Robertson (1929) on Brauneria, Cornus, Melilotus, Petalostemum and Verbena. Species: Xylocopa virginica krombeini This subspecies differs from the typical form chiefly in color of the pubescence. In the female abdominal terga 5 and 6 have a quite conspicuous tuft of white hairs at each extreme side, and the central bare area of the scutum has a marginal fringe of black pubescence. In males this marginal fringe on the scutum is more conspicuous than in the female, while the pale hairs of terga 5 and 6 may or may not be evident. DISTRIBUTION: South Florida, throughout the year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: 2024-10-31 23:41:08 gmt © Designed by The Polistes Corporation |