15 August β 14 October
the coastal calendar, unshifted
Wisteria, dead olive wood and old beams; the loudest insect in a Dalmatian garden.
Unusually for a bee, the adult overwinters β so the enormous black insect booming around in early March is last summer's generation, not this year's. It bores into dead wood only; sound timber is safe.
photos, sightings and recordings, off this site
where this species is on the list
| Phase | When | Length | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| hibernating | 15 October β 28 February | 137 days | True hibernation: body temperature drops and the animal cannot simply wake. |
| going about the year | 1 March β 31 March | 31 days | Feeding, holding territory, doing nothing the calendar singles out. |
| courting | 1 April β 19 April | 19 days | Song, display, fighting, scent-marking β pairs forming or reaffirming. |
| building | 20 April β 19 May | 30 days | Nest, burrow or den under construction, or being lined out. |
| larvae feeding | 20 May β 9 July | 51 days | Caterpillars, grubs or nymphs feeding and growing. |
| in the pupa | 10 July β 14 August | 36 days | Rebuilt inside a chrysalis or cocoon; the animal cannot move or feed. |
| new queens leaving | 15 August β 14 October | 61 days | Young leaving for good, looking for a territory of their own. |