Moth, Hornet Moth or Beetle ?

[sifenn]

I was at Fermyn last week enjoying the Purple Emperors when a couple of guys introduced me to Hornet Moths, in particular a Lunar Hornet Clearwing.

Back in the 'burbs of sunny Stockport, this evening we were briefly visited by this insect, enjoying our sweetpeas, which I managed to photograph on my mobile; about 4-5cm wingspan. It's buzz suggested hornet, but is it another kind of hornet moth or a beetle ?

welcome your comments

Sifenn

[Vince Massimo]

Hi Simon, this looks like Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea), a rare migrant to the UK. A very nice find if this turns out to be the case, but I would want a few more people to comment, just to be on the safe side, because I'm not an expert.

Vince

[bugboy]

Vince beat me to it, that was my first instinct as well and a quick flick through some ID guides hasn't changed my mind. Like Vince says not common although climate change is changing that by all accounts. You can send your sighting in to be recorded with the help of this website:
https://www.bwars.com/content/xylocopa-britain

[sifenn]

wow, that's the biggest bee I have ever encountered !
thanks for the ID, bwars notified

[Matsukaze]

They lay their eggs in dead wood or sometimes in commercial timber that gets transported around, which is presumably how it got to Stockport.

[Allan.W.]

There was a Violet Carpenter Bee recorded at Dungeness bird obs; a couple of years back . Allan.W.