Large Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees are species in the genus Xylocopa of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. Both the scientific name Xylocopa and common name "carpenter bee" derive from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant material such as dead wood or bamboo. The main exceptions are species in the subgenus Proxylocopa, which dig nesting tunnels in suitable soil.

Linnaeus named the type species Apis violacea 'violet bee' in the Systema Naturae, and Latreille described the genus Xylocopa, romanized Ancient Greek: ξυλοκόπος, lit. 'wood-cutter', in his Natural history, general and particular of the crustaceans and insects, to which the type species was reassigned.