Aster Cellophane Bee

Colletes compactus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Colletidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Aster Cellophane Bee
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0

Colletes compactus is a ground-nesting bee in the genus Colletes.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Colletes compactus is a ground-nesting bee.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

The species follows the life-cycle pattern of ground-nesting bees.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 32 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, Utah, Vermont, Arizona, Ohio.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Aster Cellophane Bee photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Aster Cellophane Bee photo 4
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Aster Cellophane Bee photo 5
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Aster Cellophane Bee photo 6
Photo: Theo Rickert, CC BY

Same family (Colletidae)

Unequal Cellophane BeeUnequal Cellophane BeeColletes inaequalisIvy Cellophane BeeIvy Cellophane BeeColletes hederaeModest Masked BeeModest Masked BeeHylaeus modestusEarly Cellophane BeeEarly Cellophane BeeColletes cuniculariusRufous-backed Cellophane BeeRufous-backed Cellophane BeeColletes thoracicusSlender-faced Masked BeeSlender-faced Masked BeeHylaeus leptocephalus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colletes_compactus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.