Bees of Colorado
The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is pleased to make the following publication available free for download in a searchable PDF format.
By Virginia L. Scott, John S. Ascher, Terry Griswold, and César R. Nufio
Natural History Inventory of Colorado: Number 23. vi + 100 pages.
Published September 1, 2011.
The Bees of Colorado is a synopsis of over a century of work on Colorado bee species. It contains an annotated list of 946 valid extant bee species, 47 of which are new to Colorado including one species recorded for the first time from the United States. County level distributional data are listed with each species. We review the history of Colorado bee research and researchers. We discuss gaps in our current understanding of the Colorado bee fauna. Since Colorado bees are diverse not only in species, but also in biology, we include a summary of various bee life history traits, such as levels of sociality, nesting biology, and floral associations.
**This publication is currently being updated. As of November 2023, the number of bee species known in Colorado is considered to be 1006.**
Virginia Scott
Collections Manager, Entomology Section
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
virginia.scott@colorado.edu
Photos: Diane M. Wilson
The Bumble Bees of Colorado
This is a pictorial identification and information guide on Colorado’s bumble bees. It provides photographs, range maps, flight times and identifying characteristics for all of Colorado’s bumble bees.
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