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Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, Virginia

photo: David Castenson

#dyke marsh #endangered wetlands #virgina #black and white photography #photographers on tumblr

The mysterious Nomada electella. Nomada are nest parasites. So, as a nest parasite the size of your host, you are going to be rarer than your host. If your host is rare then you are going to be rarer still. Nomada electella is very very rare. So rare its male has never been described in the literature. And so it was until a few years ago when I got to look at specimens from Dyke Marsh in Virginia collected by Edd Barrows. Dyke Marsh is basically and old dump, gravel operation, struggling marsh wetland natural community, surrounded by high density urban environment on the Virginia side of Washington D.C. Not a place for rarity. Yet, there were 100 of these bees, including a nice series of males. This multiplies the number of known specimens by probably 10. But what is its host? Still unknown. Nothings lept out form the other bees in the traps. This specimen is yet another one, from Bath County in Virginia collected by Ellison Orcutt whose team finds rare bees everywhere. Photo by Cole Cheng.