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Species Colletes thoracicus - Rufous-backed Cellophane Bee

Colletes thoracicus (Colletidae), Cellophane Bees - Colletes thoracicus Cellophane Bee - Colletes thoracicus - female Bee - Colletes thoracicus - female unknown bee like insect - Colletes thoracicus Cellophane Bee? - Colletes thoracicus - male Red-belted Plasterer Bee - Colletes rufocinctus - Colletes thoracicus Ground nesting bees. - Colletes thoracicus Ground Bees Mating   - Colletes thoracicus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Colletidae (Cellophane, Plasterer, Masked, and Allied Bees)
Genus Colletes (Cellophane bees)
Species thoracicus (Rufous-backed Cellophane Bee)
Other Common Names
Rufous-chested Cellophane Bee; Thoracic Cellophane Bee
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Colletes rufithorax Swenk, 1906; Colletes pulcher Swenk, 1906
Explanation of Names
Colletes thoracica Smith, 1853
Size
Female: Length 12-14mm(1)
Male: Length 10-13mm(1)
Range
Texas to Florida, north through the Atlantic Coast states to New York and Massachusetts.
Season
January and February in Florida; March through June in the northern parts of the range.
Food
Visits flowers from several families. The Hosts section on its Discover Life species page lists known floral associations based on specimen records and images.
Life Cycle
Information on life cycle and nesting can be found in Batra (1980)(2)
Print References
A revision of the genus Colletes in America North of Mexico (Hymenoptera, Colletidae)(3)
Internet References