#genus nomada

[northerlyy]

Nomad Bees (Genus Nomada), taken April 7, 2026, in Georgia, US

A couple of sleepy nomad bees bedding down for the night on the tips of grass flowers! Like their name suggests, nomad bees don't create a home of their own, wandering around in search of other bees' nest holes to lay their own eggs in, the behavior their subfamily, the cuckoo bees, is named after. Because of this, they have nowhere to shelter come nightfall, so they'll find branch tips and grass seeds or flowers to cling to, appearing as if they're an extension of the plant. They'll oftentimes rest in clumps, so I can find a dozen or so bees sharing the same grass bunch. It's the easiest time to photograph them since they don't move!

[northerlyy]

Nomad Bees (Genus Nomada), taken April 9, 2026, in Georgia, US

A couple bees settling down for the night on their perches of choice! Usually, bees I find like this actually are sleeping, but, occasionally, I find individuals like the one in the bottom image that are still awake. You can tell by the position of their antennae—an awake bee's antennae are raised up instead of pressed against the grass or branch the bee is on. This particular bee was aware but unbothered by my presence, preferring to settle in further as I took my photos. Sometimes one is more sleepy than the threat is scary!

[northerlyy]

Nomad Bee (Genus Nomada), taken March 28, 2025, in Georgia, US

I have never seen a bee sit so still in my life. I spent like 3 minutes trying to get a good photo of this guy (practicing with the raynox dcr-250) and he quite literally didn't even twitch the entire time. A couple minutes after I switched my focus from him to a jumping spider beneath him, he started buzzing and flying around again, but the period of stillness was just uncharacteristic of a nomad bee! Usually they don't even land long enough for me to look at them!

[northerlyy]

Nomad Bees (Genus Nomada), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some little red bees! These guys are always super busy unless, of course, they're sleeping like in the third image! Yesterday the bees were quite gracious with their landing times, sitting still long enough for me to actually press the shutter button lol. Normally, they're flying around constantly, searching for the burrows of other bees to lay their eggs in!

[northerlyy]

Nomad Bees (Genus Nomada), taken April 12, 2025, in Georgia, US

Sleepy bees!! I found several nomad bees taking naps on the bare branches of some shrubs. None of them woke, even when I manhandled the branches for better pictures. I only see this species sleeping in this way, though I know other nomad bees do it. I assume other species use different objects to stay steady and that's why I haven't found them—it makes sense that larger bees would use larger anchors!