Colletes / Polyester Bee
Female Colletes fulgidus longiplumosus Stephen. © Rollin Coville
Colletes inaequalis male in Ithaca, NY. © Laura Russo
Female Colletes hyalinus gaudialis Cockerell on a seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus). © Rollin Coville
Female Colletes fulgidus longiplumosus Stephen. © Rollin Coville
Family: Colletidae
Genus: Colletes
Common Name: Polyester Bee
APPEARANCE
Physical Appearance
Colletes species have a characteristic heart-shaped face, when viewed from the front. The thorax is typically buff colored and hairy, and the abdomen is dark with distinctive pale bands of hair.
The female carries pollen in a brush of specialized hairs, called a scopa, on each hind leg.
Characteristics
As short-tongued bees, Colletes species typically collect nectar from open-access or composite flowers.
In creating her ground nests, a female first secretes a transparent, waterproof substance to line the brood cells, and then uses her short two-lobed tongue to spread it over the cell wall. This lining, detachable from surrounding soil, protects the brood cells from fungal attack, and can resist damp soil and even flooding.
Size: Small to medium sized slender bees, from 1/3 to 1/2 inch in length.
HABITS
Distribution
A large genus with representative species in the Americas, Eurasia and Africa, its range extending as far north as the Arctic Circle. The genus is widespread and common throughout North America.
Number of species in North America
Over 100
Emergence Time
Summer
Nesting Habit
Ground nesting. Colletes species line their nests with a waterproof, cellophane-like substance which they secrete from a special gland in the abdomen. This nesting trait gave rise to the common name, polyester bee.
Pollinated Garden Crops Include
Apple
Blueberry
Additional Flowers Visited in Natural Areas
Parkinsonia (paloverde, Jerusalem thorn)
Prosopis (mesquite)
