Xylocopa tenuiscapa, or the slender-scaped carpenter bee, is a species of carpenter bee found only in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

Like most bees, X. tenuiscapa has a diurnal activity cycle, but in the Western Ghats of Southern India, the species flies in moonlit nights and has been observed as pollinator of nocturnally flowering trees. Males of the species perch on exposed sites close to nests or in the landscape waiting for occasions to mate.

Xylocopa tenuiscapa

References

Animal Diversity Web

ITIS Report

Further reading

Ruggiero M. (project leader), Ascher J. et al. (2013). ITIS Bees: World Bee Checklist (version Sep 2009). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 11 March 2013 (Roskov Y., Kunze T., Paglinawan L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Culham A., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Hernandez F., De Wever A., eds). Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/col/. Species 2000: Reading, UK. John Ascher, Connal Eardley, Terry Griswold, Gabriel Melo, Andrew Polaszek, Michael Ruggiero, Paul Williams, Ken Walker, and Natapot Warrit.

Xylocopa tenuiscapa

tenuiscapa

Fauna of South Asia

Fauna of Southeast Asia

Insects described in 1840

Xylocopa tenuiscapa