Colletes thoracicus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Colletes thoracicus, the rufous-chested cellophane bee, is a species of cellophane or plasterer, masked, or fork-tongued bee in the family Colletidae. It is found in North America. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-Backed Cellophane Bee sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 441st most-seen of the 822 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-Backed Cellophane Bee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to March, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-Backed Cellophane Bee sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in our data
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Rufous-Backed Cellophane Bee sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the Rufous-Backed Cellophane Bee that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are Common Eastern Bumble Bee (about 40%), Eastern Carpenter Bee (about 30%) and European Hornet (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-Backed Cellophane Bee is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
