Xylocopa virginica aka Eastern carpenter bee

My sister and I fished him out of the pool, he's alive, more or less. He sure is clinging to that pool skimmer though.

I said "he," as this is a male. Males have a patch of white or yellow cuticle on the face, as opposed to females, whose faces are black. Males are also unable to sting, since a bee's stinger is a modified ovipositor (an egg laying organ).

The primary difference in the appearances of a bumblebee and X. virginica is the conspicuous black, round spot surrounded by yellow hairs atop the thorax.

In spring, they awake. The males adopt one of multiple mating strategies, but mostly hover around looking for mates. Pollinator decline is a serious environmental issue and carpenter bees are being valued increasingly as important pollinators.

Carpenter bees are not solitary bees, but are not truly social either. The weak form of sociality they exhibit, with one female doing the majority of the work, and caring for her sisters, may be a transitional step in the evolution of sociality. However they tend to be gregarious, and often several will nest near each other.

Male eastern carpenter bees are curious and will investigate anyone, including humans, that comes near their nests. The curiosity is often interpreted as aggressiveness; however, the males are only aggressive to other male carpenter bees. They do not have stingers and cannot cause any real harm. The female carpenter bees tend to be busy with floral visitation and nest provisioning, but have the ability to cause a painful sting if captured.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_…