The violet carpenter bee is one of the largest bees in Europe — a robust, glossy-black solitary bee with a striking blue-violet sheen on its wings. It is polylectic, foraging on a wide range of flowers including wisteria, salvias, lavender, and other large-flowered plants, and it will sometimes rob nectar from deep tubular flowers by cutting a slit at the base of the corolla. Females excavate nest tunnels in dead or dry wood, emerging in spring after overwintering as adults. It is a conspicuous garden visitor across southern and central Europe, drawn to warm, sunny sites with shrubs and climbers, and its range has been expanding northward in recent decades.

Nectar plants · 4

Pollen plants · 1

Ranges from the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions east across western and central Asia, with recent northward expansion into Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, and Britain.