Look what I found buzzing around in the garden the other day. Well, actually Little Monkey found it first. I chased her inside in case she tried to eat it!
It was a massive insect and clearly having some trouble, as it flapped around on the ground, occasionally buzzing in my direction and causing me to spring back with my camera!
At first I thought it was a Blue Black Hairy Flower Wasp.
On further investigation I think it isย more likely a Carpenter Bee.
Specifically, a Violet Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa violacea.
I thought, “Shame man. Poor bee struggling in this wind,” and I put some sugar water out for it. It went straight to it, but I didn’t see it drink.
Then I went back inside and read some more about this amazing insect. Apparently they emerge now, at the end of winter or beginning of spring. “Oh, that’s interesting,” I mused. “Maybe it’s just emerged from a dead tree somewhere.”
I then found out that they bore massive holes in dead wood. “That’s cool,” I think, “I’m sure there’s plenty of dead wood around the neighbourhood.”
Then I thought; “Hey, wait a minute. All my window frames and doors, not to mention all my furniture inside the house, are wood; dead wood! Ooopsie. What have I done?”
I checked outside again, but the Violet Carpenter Bee had buzzed off!
Hopefully to a new destination, far away from my dead wood.
post script: On the fascinating subject of insects, did you know that there was a new type of beetle discovered in Cape Town last year?ย
Very well capture
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Thank you very much ๐
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Very interesting! I’ve never seen a bee the size of a 747 before.
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haha Well put! Me neither – it was a little scary! ๐
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Kind of you to help it, I hope it respects your woodwork ๐
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haha Thank you – I think it will as it most likely prefers soft rotten wood ๐
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๐
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And suddenly I am glad for winter and its ability to kill of giant insects.
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*off
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No problem ๐
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haha See, there’s always a plus side to things. ๐
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Cool insect! ๐ They probably wouldn’t eat wood that’s part of your home… only rotten natural tree wood (most likely).
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Thanks Tom. ๐ And yes, you’re right, they prefer soft rotten wood; poetic licence! ๐
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That’s one scary looking bee! My sister is terrified of bees, the yellow jacket ones especially!
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I think this one was fairly harmless, but I’m quite scared of the wasps around here – very nasty stings.
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Yeah, wasps are pretty scary! I’m afraid of them too!
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Quite rightly. ๐
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This one is massive… Thank you for introducing your new visitor, Scifi. ๐
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He really was huge. ๐ And you’re welcome ๐
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Never heard of it before now, it looks like a fly done in macro — due to the black and the wing structure.
Interesting reading about this bee. ๐
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It does and it had me stumped for quite a while, such a large unusual insect.
Thank you ๐
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Got to look after the bees. He is huge though, the Concorde of all bees.
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haha He is that! ๐
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My!!! My first time seeing such a huge bee! Kind of you to lay out sweet water for it. Let’s hope it does not return. No fun if they bore holes or create damage to wood like termites. You have an interesting garden alright!!! So many species of living things.
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haha Thank you ๐
I am sure there is a lot more going on that I just don’t see; a lot of my visitors are transient. ๐
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the more bees the better!
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I agree ๐ Even if he was a bit scary! ๐
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Oh my goodness, that is way too big for me, I am going to close my laptop right away, that is one scary bug!!!
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hahaha Sorry. I don’t know how to put up an advance warning! ๐
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That’s OK. Even if you had a warning, I am so curious, I would look ๐
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hahaha Phew! ๐
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Maybe your sugar water was his version of a payoff! Hummm, or an invitation.
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haha Yes, possibly ๐
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Holy bananas! That thing is HUUUUUGE! I’d be afraid it would have flown off with LM ๐ฒ
Yes, I love the Eastern Carpenter Bees that are around my area. However, my husband is not a fan as they make their homes in his shed. Oh.. Probably in our cedar shingled house also. ๐ Oops.
Hurrah on the new beetle! It’s nice to read about a new species of anything (even tho the guy looks like a cock roach!) with all the species us humans are wiping out ๐ฃ
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haha I know! He was enormous! ๐
Yes, I was also happy to find out about the new species, even if it is a bug!
And thanks for commenting – I’m sure this won’t be a popular post, because creepy crawlies, but this one I found kinda cute! ๐
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