- Animals
- ›Arthropods
- ›Hexapods
- ›Insects
- ›Winged and Once-winged Insects
- ›Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies
- ›Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees
- ›Ants, Bees, and Stinging Wasps
- ›Bees and Apoid Wasps
- ›Bees
- ›Plasterer Bees
- ›Colletinae

Cellophane Bees
Colletes
The genus Colletes (plasterer bees) is a large group of ground-nesting bees of the family Colletidae. They occur primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. They tend to be solitary, but sometimes nest close together in aggregations. Species in the genus build cells in underground nests that are lined with a cellophane-like plastic secretion, a true polyester, earning them the nickname polyester bees.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first

Colletes inaequalis
complexColletes inaequalis

Ivy Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes hederae

Early Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes cunicularius

Colletes simulans
complexColletes simulans

Colletes compactus
complexColletes compactus

Colletes americanus
complexColletes americanus

Colletes latitarsis
complexColletes latitarsis

Heather Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes succinctus

Colletes cyaneus
complexColletes cyaneus

Davies' Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes daviesanus

Canary Islands Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes dimidiatus

Bare-saddled Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes similis

Morice's Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes moricei

Hairy-saddled Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes fodiens
Colletes nudus
complexColletes nudus

Sea Aster Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes halophilus

Northern Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes floralis

Hylaeiform Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes hylaeiformis

Andrews' Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes andrewsi

Alumroot Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes aestivalis

Colletes bicolor
complexColletes bicolor
Slevin's Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes slevini

Colletes consors
complexColletes consors

Colletes atripes
complexColletes atripes

Long-faced Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes longifacies

Susanna's Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes susannae

Reseda Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes nigricans

Colletes hyalinus
complexColletes hyalinus

Colletes collaris
speciesColletes collaris

Sandhills Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes ultravalidus

Colletes productus
complexColletes productus

Aberrant Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes aberrans

Colletes marginatus
complexColletes marginatus

Kincaid's Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes kincaidii

Abeille's Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes abeillei

Colletes banksi
speciesColletes banksi
Colletes robertsonii
complexColletes robertsonii

Colletes ciliatus
speciesColletes ciliatus

Colletes nasutus
speciesColletes nasutus

Fuerteventura Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes perezi
Colletes gilvus
complexColletes gilvus

Colletes brimleyi
speciesColletes brimleyi

Colletes titusensis
speciesColletes titusensis

Colletes petropolitanus
complexColletes petropolitanus

Colletes albomaculatus
complexColletes albomaculatus

Colletes acutus
complexColletes acutus

Colletes escalerai
speciesColletes escalerai

Colletes chusmiza
complexColletes chusmiza

Colletes francesae
speciesColletes francesae

Colletes bradleyi
speciesColletes bradleyi

Jankowskyi's Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes jankowskyi

Alin's Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes alini

Glittering Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes fulgidus
Colletes caspicus
complexColletes caspicus

Eous Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes eous

Taiwan Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes taiwanensis

Impunctate Cellophane Bee
speciesColletes impunctatus

Colletes eulophi
speciesColletes eulophi

Colletes chengtehensis
speciesColletes chengtehensis
Colletes spilopterus
complexColletes spilopterus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Colletes in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 127741.