Xylocopa bombylans
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Xylocopa bombylans, the peacock carpenter bee, is a species of carpenter bee found in Australia. It gets its common name by its habit of burrowing into wood. It was originally described by Danish naturalist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. Its specific epithet is the Latin bombylans "like a bumblebee". The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek (Ancient Greek: ξυλοκόπος, romanized: ksulokópos) "wood-cutter".
As its name implies, the peacock carpenter bee is a metallic blue-green or green in colour, although it may even appear purplish from some angles. A large stocky bee, it is often heard by its loud low-pitched buzzing while flying between flowers. The male has white face markings. The bee does have a sting which is potentially painful, although no stings have been recorded.
The natural distribution is from the Cape York Peninsula in north Queensland south along the eastern seaboard to the Sydney region (where it overlaps with X. aerata). They can be seen from spring to autumn, commonly feeding at pea flowers of the family Fabaceae, such as Gompholobium species, including Gompholobium latifolium in spring, and Pultenaea elliptica in autumn. It is a pollinator of Melastoma affine. Other flowers visited include those of Banksia, Xanthorrhoea, Hardenbergia violacea, Tristania, Leptospermum, Aotus, Cassia and Leucopogon.
The Peacock carpenter bee nests by hollowing out stalks of grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea), or soft wood such as Banksia, Casuarina, Melaleuca and Leptospermum. The female excavates a tunnel with her jaws and picks up and dumps the wood shavings outside. The hollow can reach 30 centimetres (12 in) long by 11–14 millimetres (0.43–0.55 in) in diameter. Larger pieces of wood may allow for multiple tunnels. Several female bees may use a nest, one breeding and the others guarding. A bee defends the 7–10-millimetre (0.3–0.4 in) wide entrance by blocking it with its abdomen (compare Allodapula). Both male and female bees may overwinter within the tunnels. The tunnels are partitioned into several cells, where the mother bee lays an egg in each accompanied by provisions of nectar and pollen. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Peacock Carpenter Bee sighting in Daintree National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 745th most-seen of the 856 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August to November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Peacock Carpenter Bee in Daintree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to July, the lowest months. Those are among Daintree National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 380 mm in January.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Peacock 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 3 parks where we can rate Peacock Carpenter Bee sightings, Daintree National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Lamington National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Apidae
The closest relatives of the Peacock Carpenter Bee that you can see in Daintree National Park (family Apidae, Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies) are Neon Cuckoo Bee (about 10%), Amegilla cingulata (about 10%) and Asian Honey Bee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Peacock Carpenter Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Daintree National Park (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
