Photo: Arnstein Staverløkk / CC BY 3.0

Colletes impunctatus

Impunctate Cellophane Bee

A small high-altitude plasterer bee (7-9 mm) with dense brownish hairs, a distinctly shiny and sparsely punctate first tergite, and greyish-white abdominal hair bands. It is a specialist of alpine and boreal regions, nesting in sandy soils in mountain meadows. In Switzerland it occurs in the Alps from about 1800 m to over 2300 m, foraging on Asteraceae and other alpine flowers. It is classified as Vulnerable on the European Red List due to its restricted montane habitat.