eover they will frequently follow trail similar chemicals used by other bee (such as carpenter bees, Africanized honeybees and other stingless bees) for the same purpose, frequently killing or driving them away and taking over their food source.
This bee has been considered an agricultural pest for some cultures, such as passion fruit, because it damages leaves and flowers while collecting nest materials, and tunnels through the unopened flowers to collect the nectar (thus frustrating their normal pollinators).[ On the other hand, they are significant pollinators on their own, e.g. for onions.
Attack by stingless bee although not considered dangerous to humans can be very annoying if not scary, especially if the victim is not expecting it. On one occasion Pat (my wife) and I were collecting insects in Monte Verde Costa Rica. Without any warning there were hundreds of bees on us. As indicated above they got into our clothing and hair. As indicated their bite was not especially painful but when hundreds of bees are biting you especially around the face neck and other areas of the face it can be disconcerting to say the least. She still talks about it today (30 years ago).
Carpenter Bees. Carpenter bees are large, hairy bees with over 500 species distributed worldwide. Their name comes from the fact that nearly all species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers.
In the United States, there are two eastern species, Xylocopa virginica, and Xylocopa micans, and three other species that are primarily western in distribution, Xylocopa varipuncta, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex and Xylocopa californica. X. virginica is by far the more widely distributed species. Some are often mistaken for a bumblebee species, as they can be similar in size and coloration, though most carpenter bees have a shiny abdomen, while in bumblebees the abdomen is completely clothed with dense hair. Males of some species have a white or yellow face, where the females do not; males also often have much larger eyes than the females, which relates to their mating behavior. Male bees are often seen hovering near nests, and will approach nearby animals. However, males are harmless since they do not have a stinger. Female carpenter bees are capable of stinging, but they are docile and rarely sting unless caught in the hand or otherwise directly provoked.
Many Old World carpenter bees have a special pouch-like structure on the inside of their thorax called the acarinarium where certain species of mites (Dinogamasus spp.) reside. The exact nature of the relationship is not fully understood, though in other bees that carry mites where the mites are beneficial, feeding either on fungi in the nest, or on other, harmful mites.
Carpenter bees are traditionally considered solitary bees, though some species have simple social nests in which mothers and daughters may cohabit. However, even solitary species tend to be gregarious. There are two very different mating systems that appear to be common in carpenter bees, and often this can be determined simply by examining specimens of the males of any given species. Species in which the males have large eyes are characterized by a mating system where the males either search for females by patrolling, or by hovering and waiting for passing females, whom they then pursue. In the other type of mating system, the males often have very small heads, but there is a large, hypertrophied glandular reservoir in the mesosoma, which releases pheromones into the airstream behind the male while it flies or hovers. The pheromone advertises the presence of the male to females.[
These bees come in a variety of sizes although most are slightly larger than a honey bee. One of the most common species is the valley carpenter bee that is characterized by solid black females and golden males. They are as large as or larger than bumblebees.
Female and Male Valley Carpenter Bees.
As previous indicated these bees nest in wood. Their colonies consist of a series of tunnel-shaped burrows. As do other bees, carpenter bees