Xylocopa pubescens
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Xylocopa pubescens is a species of large carpenter bee. Females form nests by excavation with their mandibles, often in dead or soft wood. X. pubescens is commonly found in areas extending from India to Northeast and West Africa. It must reside in these warm climates because it requires a minimum ambient temperature of 18 °C (64 °F) in order to forage.
A common area of study in X. pubescens is its dominance hierarchy and guarding behavior. Colonies start and end with female takeover, either by daughters of the dominant female or by foreign intruders. There is only one reproductively active female in a colony at a time who suppresses the reproduction of other females in the nest. Males hold individual territories which females enter to mate. When an intruder enters another male's territory, the male responds aggressively.
X. pubescens is polylectic, so it forages on many species of plants. It forages on some plants for nectar when preparing bee bread during ontogenesis and forages on others for pollen to feed offspring. Pheromones from Dufour's gland are vital to mark flowers previously visited and also to mark nests so that the foraging bees know where to return. X. pubescens is known to be an effective pollinator, often more effective than honeybees, but it is not commonly used in today's agricultural settings. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pubescent Carpenter Bee sighting in Jerusalem on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 59th most-seen of the 137 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Pubescent Carpenter Bee in Jerusalem on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, June, September and November–December, the lowest months. That is one of Jerusalem's driest months, with almost no rain against 90 mm in January.
10th of 12
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Pubescent Carpenter Bee sightings, Jerusalem ranks 10th at about 20%. The best odds are in Tunis (Tunisia, about 50%), Athens (Greece, about 40%) and Luxor (Egypt, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pubescent Carpenter Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Jerusalem (10 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.
