Colletes
Guides
Colletes longifacies
Long-faced Cellophane Bee
Colletes longifacies is a solitary bee species in the family Colletidae, endemic to Florida and one of only five Colletidae species restricted to that state. It occurs in North-Central Peninsular Florida and the Florida Panhandle. Like other members of its genus, it is a ground-nesting bee that lines its brood cells with a cellophane-like secretion, earning it the common name 'cellophane bee' or 'plasterer bee'.
Epeolus americanus
American Cellophane-cuckoo Bee
Epeolus americanus is a cleptoparasitic bee (cuckoo bee) in the family Apidae. It was newly confirmed in 2020 to parasitize the solitary bee Colletes consors mesocopus, with the first instar larva described for the first time. The species belongs to a genus of bees that invade nests of polyester bees (genus Colletes) and lacks the branched body hairs typical of pollen-collecting bees.
Epeolus pusillus
Dwarf Cellophane-cuckoo Bee
Epeolus pusillus is a cleptoparasitic cuckoo bee in the family Apidae, first described by Cresson in 1864. The species is a specialized nest parasite of two cellophane bee species in the genus Colletes: C. compactus and C. ciliatoides. As a cuckoo bee, females lay eggs in host nests where their larvae kill the host egg or larva and consume the pollen provisions. The species is known from the United States and Mexico.
Tricrania sanguinipennis
Blood-winged Blister Beetle
Tricrania sanguinipennis is a flightless blister beetle (family Meloidae) native to eastern North America. Adults are 9–15 mm long with bright red, leathery elytra that conceal vestigial wings. The species is a parasitoid of solitary bees in the genus Colletes, particularly Colletes inaequalis. Its life cycle involves hypermetamorphosis, with a mobile triungulin larva that hitchhikes on male bees to access underground nest cells. The beetle has been documented from Saskatchewan to northern Florida, with Kansas marking its western limit.