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.
Clark, P. Polyester bees: Born in a plastic bag. Washington Post March 15, 2011. Colletes Identification Guide (female). discoverlife.org Colletes Identification Guide (male). discoverlife.org List of Species. discoverlife.org Worldwide Species Map. discoverlife.org
Kuhlmann, M. (1999). Colletes wolfi spec. nova from Italy, and lectotype designation for Palaearctic bees of the genus Colletes Latr., with notes on new homonymies and synonymies (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Colletinae). Linzer biologische Beiträge 31(1), 71–81.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Colletes the free encyclopedia Wikipedia which is released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License). On Wikipedia a list of authors is available.
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