One of about 500 species in the genus, found in the warmer parts of the world. The name - both scientiific and common - refers to the nesting habits. Nearly all species burrow into hard plant material like bamboo or dead wood. In India, all-black carpenter bees are called  bhanvra or bhomora, but that encompasses at least 15 species.

Usually solitary nesters, although some species nest in small family groups. The food supply in each cell is sculpted into a shape that props it away from the cell walls, and each cell is given a single (very large for insects) egg. If enough bees excavate tunnels in a piece of wood, it may collapse under the strain - this makes carpenter bees a minor timber pest. Woodpeckers going after the bee larvae would do a lot more damage.

Most Xylocopa species are all black, which doesn't help telling them apart. In some the males are very differently coloured to their enormous goth girlfriends.

Many Old World Xylocopa have an abdominal pouch containing Dinogamasus mites - it's possible they feed on fungi in the bee's nest, or on other, parasitic mites.