Europe and western Asia
Fine-art photographic collection
Colletes similis
A solitary bee that waterproofs each underground nursery with a self-made polyester lining.
About this species
Bare-saddled colletes
Colletes similisSchenck, 1853
Information reviewed17 July 2026
Colletes similis is a ground-nesting bee in the family Colletidae. Females excavate individual nests, often close together in small aggregations, and collect pollen especially from daisy-family flowers for their larvae.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Colletidae · Colletes
Source checked · checked 2026-07-17
Europe and western AsiaBroad documented range and representative regional anchors — not a complete occurrence map.
Open sandy or chalky ground, brownfield sites, heath, coastal habitats and flower-rich grassland.
Usually active from mid-summer into early autumn.
Adults take nectar; females collect pollen, especially from Asteraceae, for the brood cells.
Solitary; neighbouring females may form compact nesting aggregations without sharing brood care.
What makes this species remarkable?
The female paints each brood cell with a transparent, waterproof polyester secretion — the origin of the name “cellophane bee”.
A cluster of entrance holes can look like a colony, but every female excavates and provisions her own independent nest.
Its pollen gathering is strongly associated with Asteraceae, linking the bee’s short flight season to late-summer composite flowers.