López-Uribe Lab

Colletidae

Members of the family Colletidae are commonly known as plaster bees, cellophane bees, masked bees, and fork-tongued bees. Twenty-four (24) species of colletid bees have been recorded in Pennsylvania [1]. Of these species, only three (Hylaeus leptocephalus, Hylaeus pictipes, and Hylaeus hyalinatus) are not native to North America (indicated by an asterisk; *). Worldwide, this family has over 2,710 species described [2].

General identifying morphological characters include:

  • A pair of grooves on their face (one below each antenna) 
  • Short tongue length, frequently the tongue is also wider than long, truncated, and/or forked 
  • Small to medium size 
  • Wide range of colors and patterns, but may appear wasp-like, nearly hairless, and have white or yellow markings on the face and other parts of the body

Nesting habitats

Bees in this family nest in burrows they dig in the ground, hollow twigs/stems, or cavities that they find in wood.

Sociality

All species in this family are solitary, but the females of some species may nest close together. When multiple nests are located in the same area, this is called an aggregation.

Other behavioral or biological traits

All bees in this family make a cellophane-like lining for waterproofing and protecting their nests. Notably, some species are specialists that only collect pollen from certain plant species, while others are broad generalists that collect pollen from many different types of plants. Members of one group in Pennsylvania, the genus Hylaeus, lack external pollen-collecting structures. Instead, members of this genus carry pollen and nectar internally in their crop (sometimes called the “honey stomach”).

Species list

A checklist of colletid bees recorded in Pennsylvania is presented below. For each species, we list the counties, date ranges, and the most recent years they have been collected or observed in the openly-accessible checklist [see 1].

Genus Colletes — 12 species

  • Colletes aestivalis Patton, 1879
  • Colletes americanus Cresson, 1868
  • Colletes compactus compactus Cresson, 1868
  • Colletes inaequalis Say, 1837
  • Colletes validus Cresson, 1868
  • Colletes latitarsis Robertson, 1891
  • Colletes nudus Robertson, 1898
  • Colletes productus Robertson, 1891
  • Colletes eulophi Robertson, 1891
  • Colletes simulans armatus Patton, 1879
  • Colletes thoracicus Smith, 1853
  • Colletes willistoni Robertson, 1891

Genus Hylaeus — 12 species

  • Hylaeus (Hylaeus) annulatus (L., 1758)
  • Hylaeus (Hylaeus) leptocephalus (Morawitz, 1871) *
  • Hylaeus (Hylaeus) mesillae cressoni (Cockerell, 1907)
  • Hylaeus (Hylaeus) saniculae (Robertson, 1896)
  • Hylaeus (Metziella) sparsus (Cresson, 1869)
  • Hylaeus (Paraprosopis) floridanus (Robertson, 1893)
  • Hylaeus (Paraprosopis) pictipes Nylander, 1852 *
  • Hylaeus (Prosopis) affinis (Smith, 1853)
  • Hylaeus (Prosopis) illinoisensis (Robertson, 1896)
  • Hylaeus (Prosopis) modestus modestus Say, 1837
  • Hylaeus (Prosopis) schwarzii (Cockerell, 1896)
  • Hylaeus (Spatulariella) hyalinatus Smith, 1842 *

Additional information about species in this family is available at:

References

  1. Kilpatrick SK, Gibbs J, Mikulas MM, Spichiger S-E, Ostiguy N, Biddinger DJ, López-Uribe MM (2020) An updated checklist of the bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Anthophila) of Pennsylvania, United States of America. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 77: 1–86. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.77.49622
  2. Ascher JS, Pickering J (2020) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Apoidea_species

Photo Credit

USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab

How to Cite this Webpage

Kilpatrick SK, López-Uribe MM (2020) Colletidae. http://lopezuribelab.com/colletidae/

Updated 29 June 2020