Bug FAQWestern Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa californica · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae
Also called: California Carpenter Bee, Western Carpenter
Source: Wikipedia
Western carpenter bees are large, black bees with a metallic bluish-green sheen and males have a few light hairs on the thorax and abdomen. They nest by carving tunnels in wood using their sharp mandibles while vibrating their bodies, which can damage wooden parts of a house.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The bee is all black with bluish-green reflections. Males usually have some light hairs on the pronotum and abdominal segments.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults range from about 13 to 30 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
Carpenter bees carve nests in wood, which can damage wooden structures in homes.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
Males have no stinger. They have few natural predators.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They excavate nests in wood, carving tunnels with their mandibles while vibrating their bodies.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults feed on nectar and pollen. They collect pollen by gripping poricidal anthers with their mandibles and vibrating the flower to release pollen onto their bodies.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Males are territorial and do not have a stinger. The species can adjust its vibration frequency to match different flower types.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
They are active during hot seasons. They are endothermic, absorbing heat in desert conditions.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 14 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Arizona, Utah, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Do Western carpenter bees damage my house?
Yes, they carve tunnels in wood, which can weaken wooden structures.
Source: Wikipedia
What do they look like?
They are all black with a metallic bluish-green sheen, and males have a few light hairs on the thorax and abdomen.
Source: Wikipedia
When are they active?
They are most active during hot seasons and can absorb heat in desert conditions.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Apidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_carpenter_bee
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.