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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees » Cellophane, Plasterer, Masked, and Allied Bees (Colletidae) » Cellophane bees (Colletes) » Rufous-backed Cellophane Bee (Colletes thoracicus)

Species Colletes thoracicus - Rufous-backed Cellophane Bee

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Colletes from sandy road - Colletes thoracicus

unknown bee like insect - Colletes thoracicus

Cellophane Bee - Colletes thoracicus? - Colletes thoracicus - female

Ground Bees Mating - Colletes thoracicus

Black & Orange Bees Swarming My Deck - 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.

Discover Life Map

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

Discover Life

iNaturalist

ITIS

Works Cited

1.	Bees of the eastern United States Mitchell T.B. 1962. Tech. Bull. (NC Agric. Exp. Sta.): No. 141 (538 pp.), 1960; and No. 152 (557 pp.).

2.	Ecology, Behavior, Pheromones, Parasites and Management of the Sympatric Vernal Bees Colletes inaequalis, C. thoracicus and...

3.	A revision of the genus Colletes in America North of Mexico (Hymenoptera, Colletidae)

Contributed by john and jane balaban on 15 November, 2006 - 8:16pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, John S. Ascher, hg, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 13 August, 2020 - 12:36pm

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