Nomada vincta, m, back, Wythe Co., Virginia
Have you considered saving the wild sunflower? Do you even know about sunflowers other than the storeboughten, bird seed, farmer planted types? Maybe. And. In case you have haven't, you should. Little old state of Maryland has 15 species and, the whole country appears to be coated in Sunflower species...if you believe the maps. And, And. it can be hard to find these usually perennial wild species in the wild anymore. Why? Because we have mowed up our roadsides and painted them in cool season grasses not sunflowers. This has consequences because of bunches of bee species only gather pollen from Helianthus. No sunflowers. No sunflower bees. AND AND AND no Nomada vincta (pictured here) which is a bee parasite of the Andrena species that specialize on sunflowers. Thanks to Ellison Orcutt and company for capturing this specimen in a wildscape in Wythe County, Viginia.
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde. Original public domain image from Flickr