Violet carpenter bee
Xylocopa violacea
Bee
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.
Plan for this species
Location-fit plant set for Chicago, IL: host and specialist plants first, then nectar, fruit, seed, foliage, and shelter plants that still fit the current and mid-century climate read.
0 essential relationships / 4 supporting plants
Host/specialist links: 0
Forage/pollination links: 4
Shelter links: 0
Relationship roles: 1
Chinese wisteria
Supporting / Nectar plants
Wisteria is a documented forage plant; as a short-tongued bee on deep legume flowers it may also rob nectar at the base of the corolla.
Garden salvia
Supporting / Nectar plants
Sweet iris
Supporting / Nectar plants
Xylocopa violacea is a southern European bee whose range covers Italy and the Dalmatian coast, and it is large enough to work an iris tunnel comfortably. Carpenter bees are also well known for nectar robbing on tubular flowers, so its visits are as likely to bypass the pollination mechanism as to serve it - which is exactly why this is recorded as nectar foraging rather than pollination.
Wall germander
Supporting / Nectar plants
Plants in the catalog
Nectar plants · 5
Wisteria is a documented forage plant; as a short-tongued bee on deep legume flowers it may also rob nectar at the base of the corolla.
Xylocopa violacea is a southern European bee whose range covers Italy and the Dalmatian coast, and it is large enough to work an iris tunnel comfortably. Carpenter bees are also well known for nectar robbing on tubular flowers, so its visits are as likely to bypass the pollination mechanism as to serve it - which is exactly why this is recorded as nectar foraging rather than pollination.
Pollen plants · 1
Range
Ranges from the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions east across western and central Asia, with recent northward expansion into Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, and Britain.
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.). Violet carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/violet-carpenter-bee
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
Xylocopa violacea - Wikipedia
Identification, European range and northward expansion, dead-wood nesting, overwintering as adults, and broad floral foraging.
Xylocopa violacea - GBIF
Accepted taxonomy and occurrence records across Europe and western/central Asia.