Painted Mining Bee vs Giant Neotropical Carpenter Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Painted Mining Bee Giant Neotropical Carpenter Bee
Scientific Name Andrena fucata Xylocopa frontalis
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Andrenidae Apidae
Size 10-13 mm 25-35 mm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Nectar Feeders Wood Feeders
Regions Europe Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Central America
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Painted Mining Bee

A handsome spring bee with a red-brown thorax and banded abdomen. It is common in woodland clearings and gardens across Europe.

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Did You Know?

It is a favourite host of the cuckoo bee Nomada flava, which lays eggs in its nest burrows.

Giant Neotropical Carpenter Bee

One of the largest bees in the Americas with a robust black body and yellowish thoracic hair. Females bore nesting tunnels into dead wood and timber.

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Did You Know?

It is the most effective natural pollinator of passion fruit, and crop yields decline significantly where it disappears.