Xylocopa brasilianorum

Only the females can sting, as with other carpenter bees, while the males have no sting at all. Males are often the more noticeable ones because they hover territorially, but they are harmless.

They excavate their tunnel nests in dead wood and bamboo stalks rather than in sound, finished lumber, so structural damage to buildings is usually limited. Like other carpenter bees, they prefer weathered, untreated wood when they do nest near structures.

It is a neotropical carpenter bee native to South America. Its habit of chewing nesting tunnels into dead wood and bamboo ties it to forested and semi-forested tropical habitats.

You can offer bundles of bamboo canes or blocks of dead, untreated wood with drilled tunnels, which mimic the natural nesting material of Xylocopa. These bees are valuable pollinators, so many gardeners deliberately leave dead wood for them.