I recently rediscovered these photos I took of a possible bumblebee last spring in North Texas. It seems to hit all of the common traits for a typical bumblebee except for the apparent lack of any black on its body. It seems to be an even copper color all over. No guides I've seen suggest a bumblebee quite like it.
Is this a trick of the light perhaps? The copper color persisted from all viewing angles. Is it just covered in pollen? Or maybe it is an atypical variant.
Not a bumble bee, but a carpenter bee - namely a male Xylocopa varipuncta (valley carpenter bee) - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylocopa_varipuncta
Yes, of course, thank you!
When I got one wrong assumption stuck in my head it just blinded me to the alternatives. I regularly see the all black females more frequently around the property and never connected the dots.
