Photo: gailhampshire / CC BY 2.0

Colletes succinctus

Heather Colletes

A medium-sized plasterer bee (10-12 mm) with pale hairs on the clypeus, orange-transparent bands on the first tergite, and broad white hair bands. It is strongly associated with heathland and moorland, where it specialises on heather (Ericaceae) pollen. It nests in aggregations in sandy soils, sometimes forming enormous colonies of over 60,000 nests. It is univoltine, flying from mid-July to late September. In Switzerland it occurs locally in the Alps and Jura mountains on heathland and in areas with Calluna vulgaris. Swiss Red List: Vulnerable (VU).