Xylocopa sonorina

Introduction:

The male bees are golden brown in color with green eyes and lack a stinger. Females are large and black, with a length of approximately 1 inch. Active year-round, with peak activity from March to August. Smoky (not violet or black) wings, and lack of any iridescent coloring on the body suggests this species.
Life Cycle: In the spring, females mate with males and then may disperse and start new nests, or clean out and enlarge the old tunnels used during the winter, adding brood cells. They are carpenter bees, so the nest will be in wood. Each cell a female provisions contains a substance called "bee bread", which is a mixture of pollen and nectar used as food for the larvae. An egg is deposited on the pollen mass and each cell is sealed off with a partition of sawdust. Young adult male and female bees hibernate in the tunnels during the winter.

Size 1 inch (2.5 cm)
Sexual Dimorphism: true
Metamorphosis: complete (egg, larva, pupa, adult)