Unequal Cellophane Bee

Here's what I believe are Unequal Cellophane Bees. Though they look similar to plenty of other bees, I'm fairly confident of the ID because:

  1. The Unequal Cellophane Bees appear quite early in the year, and I started seeing these guys in early March.
  2. These bees make holes in the ground similar to ants, with little dirt mounds around the holes.
  3. Though these bees aren't social insects that share a home or resources, they do live close to one another, and I saw quite a few holes and bees in the area.
  4. These bees are also known for their mating balls - more on those later.
I probably should have talked about these bees earlier since you might have had a chance to watch them. With little vegetation around, almost no other insects around, and their mating season in full swing, these bees were much more conspicuous in March and early April. (Oh well, better late than never.)

The Unequal Cellophane Bees get the cellophane part of their name because the females line cells in their nests with a cellophane-like polyester to waterproof them. It's formed from a combination of saliva from their mouths and a secretion from a gland on her abdomen. They aren't the only bees that do this; all the bees that do this are commonly called plasterer bees (aka polyester bees). (It's unclear where the "unequal" part of the name came from.)

Because they emerge so early in the season, this bee is considered an important pollinator, though not only of wildflowers. Maple, redbud, and willow tree flowers are likely to get visited by these guys.

These are great bees to observe because they're considered pretty docile; your chances of getting stung are pretty low. The males are usually a little smaller than the females and with a furrier looking face. I suspect that the top bee is a female, and the bottom bee is a male.
March 7, 2022 at Duke Island Park
Photo 186581864, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Males emerge even earlier than the females and build little nests of their own to live in until the females emerge. When the females do emerge, they usually have no trouble attracting the males. Mating balls like the one below are common. This may not seem especially civilized or romantic, but it's not all that rare in the animal world. After their frenetic breeding season, the males don't live much longer, but the females go on to build nests and lay eggs that will become the next generation.

March 7, 2022 at Duke Island Park




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