Appearance
The most visible physical difference (at a glance) between this species and a bumblebee is the abdomen. Eastern carpenter bees have a shiny black abdomen, with the only yellow hair present being at the base next to the thorax, while bumblebees have a very fuzzy abdomen, which in some species has large areas of yellow hair across the middle (this is visible and obvious). The female eastern carpenter bee also has a much broader head than bumblebees. Eastern carpenter bees can be sexed at a glance. Males have a patch of white or yellow cuticle on the face, as opposed to females, whose faces are black. Males are unable to sting, since a bee's stinger is a modified ovipositor (an egg laying organ).
Read more about this topic: Eastern Carpenter Bee
Famous quotes containing the word appearance:
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—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)
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—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“What lies behind appearance is usually another appearance.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)