Colletes validus Cresson, 1868

Zarrillo, Tracy A., Stoner, Kimberly A. & Ascher, John S., 2025, Biodiversity of Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) in Connecticut (USA), Zootaxa 5586 (1), pp. 1-138 : 102

Colletes validus Cresson, 1868 ( inaequalis group)

Blueberry Cellophane Bee

Notes: The first known records for this species in Connecticut were collected by Viereck in 1904 on American gooseberry ( Ribes oxyacanthoides ), and leatherleaf ( Chamaedaphne calyculata ). Rajotte (1979) studied the nesting habits, pheromone response, and foraging behavior of this species at a sandplain in the town of Mansfield (Tolland County), Connecticut, northeast of Chapins Pond. He found that C. validus waited 11–20 days after emergence to collect pollen from early and late lowbush blueberries ( Vaccinium angustifolium and V. pallidum [as V. vascillans , a misspelling of vacillans] respectively) and found that excavated pollen provisions were almost exclusively from Vaccinium or other ericaceous species (Rajotte 1979). Due to its specialization on Vaccinium spp. pollen and its gregarious nesting habit (Rajotte 1979), this species has potential to be an important native pollinator of lowbush (Boulanger e t al. 1967; Rajotte 1979) and highbush blueberry (Scott et al. 2016; Tuell et al. 2009).