Xylocopa micans
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Xylocopa micans, also known as the southern carpenter bee, is a species of bee within Xylocopa, the genus of carpenter bees. The southern carpenter bee can be found mainly in the coastal and gulf regions of the southeastern United States, as well as Mexico and Guatemala. Like all Xylocopa bees, X. micans excavates nests in woody plant material. However, unlike its sympatric species Xylocopa virginica, X. micans has not been found to construct nest galleries in structural timbers of building, making it less of an economic nuisance to humans. Carpenter bees have a wide range of mating strategies between different species. The southern carpenter bee exhibits a polymorphic mating strategy, with its preferred method of mating changing as the season progresses from early spring to mid summer. Like most bees in its genus, the southern carpenter bee is considered a solitary bee because it does not live in colonies.
The French entomologist and Hymenoptera specialist Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier first described Xylocopa micans in 1841. The genus name Xylocopa is derived from the Ancient Greek word xylokopos/ξῦλοκὀπος meaning "wood-worker", a reference to the bee... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Carpenter Bee sighting in Austin on a given day, based on 259 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 144th most-seen of the 1624 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March to November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Carpenter Bee in Austin on a given day, against under 5% in December to February, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Carpenter Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Southern Carpenter Bee sightings, Austin ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Houston (United States, about 10%) and Dallas (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Xylocopa
The closest relatives of the Southern Carpenter Bee that you can see in Austin (genus Xylocopa, Large Carpenter Bees) are Horse-Fly Carpenter Bee (about 10%) and Eastern Carpenter Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Carpenter Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Austin (259 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
