sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Carpenter bees are abundant around our old kennel building where they terrorize the wood joists with their nesting holes. They amuse me with their posturing as they try to intimidate me by hovering in front of me. Fortunately for them, I know that they are quite harmless other than being "Mother Nature's perfect drill bit".

This one had reached the end of its life as it was laying on the ground beardly able to flutter its wings. Not one to let an opportunity go to waste, I brought it in for a focused stacking session showcasing its compound and simple eyes using a 5X magnification microscope objective as the optic for the camera.

(Download)

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Nicely done Sippy. We have a few around here that like the dead blossom stalks on Yucca plants. They exhibit the same hovering behavior you describe. Being black against a blue sky makes them difficult targets.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, Curmudgeon. The males are harmless. The females could sting if they are handled and they feel threatened. They come around me when I'm cleaning up the dog exercise yard and they hover where we look eye-to-eye and I just ignore them and go about my business. I am fascinated by the precision of the holes that they gnaw in the wood for they do a better job than I could do with a drill.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

👍 I had read somewhere that the females can attack if you get too close to their hole. But I've never felt threatened. Males also stick around to guard their mating interests, and they can't sting. I don't know how to recognize those.

tinusbum Loc: east texas

nice stack!