African carpenter bee
Xylocopa caffra
Bee
The African (double-banded) carpenter bee is a large Afrotropical bee in which females are black with two pale yellow or white bands across the thorax and front of the abdomen, while males are uniformly greenish-yellow. It occupies habitats from moist coastal fynbos to dry savanna across sub-Saharan Africa. Females are solitary nesters, excavating tunnels in dead wood or pithy stems and provisioning each cell with a pollen-and-nectar mass. The species is a generalist floral visitor and an important pollinator of legumes and many other garden flowers throughout its range.
Plants in the catalog
Nectar plants · 5
The record notes bees and other insects taking nectar and pollen alongside the birds; Xylocopa are the likeliest large-bee visitors in this range, though the sunbirds do the pollinating.
Pollen plants · 1
The record describes insect pollination with bees drawn to the fluffy bearded stamens, and Xylocopa is the large-bee genus of this range. Wired as plausible rather than documented: the source names bees generally, not this species.
Range
Widespread across sub-Saharan Africa from Guinea and Cameroon south to South Africa, and east to Ethiopia and Kenya; also Madagascar, the Comoros, and the Seychelles. Occupies habitats from coastal fynbos to savanna.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). African carpenter bee (Xylocopa caffra). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/african-carpenter-bee
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
Xylocopa caffra - Wikipedia
Identification (female bands vs greenish-yellow male), Afrotropical range, dead-wood nesting, and generalist floral foraging.