Bug FAQDouble-banded Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa caffra · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae
Also called: Banded Large Carpenter Bee, Doubleband Carpenter Bee, White-banded Large Carpenter Bee, Yellow Banded Large Carpenter Bee
They nest alone in plant stems, tree branches or timber and are found from moist coasts to dry savannahs across much of Africa and nearby islands. Larvae are fed pollen-nectar mixtures and the adults visit many flowering plants for nectar and pollen.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
In East Africa a form with orange-red bands also occurs.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
The species lives in many habitats, from moist coastal areas to dry savannah.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults gather nectar and pollen from a wide variety of plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females carry phoretic mites in a special abdominal chamber called the acarinarium.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is an Afrotropical bee found from West through Central to Southern Africa, as well as Madagascar and some Indian Ocean islands.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
Where are they found?
They occur across West, Central and Southern Africa, Madagascar and some Indian Ocean islands, living in habitats from moist coasts to dry savannahs.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Apidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylocopa_caffra
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.