Marsham's nomad bee, Nomada marshamella, a large black-and-yellow wasp-like cuckoo bee

Nomada marshamella, Marsham's nomad bee. Soebe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nomada marshamella| Nomad bee Common Cleptoparasite Wasp-like

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UK Bee Species

Marsham's Nomad Bee (Nomada marshamella)

Nomada marshamella (Kirby, 1802) · subfamily Nomadinae · family Apidae

Marsham's nomad bee is one of Britain's larger and most frequently seen cuckoo bees, a slim, wasp-like insect in black and yellow that builds no nest and gathers no pollen. It makes its living at the expense of mining bees, above all the chocolate mining bee, slipping into their burrows to leave its young on the food the hosts have stored. It is common and widespread across most of Britain and Ireland. See where it sits among Britain's bees on the UK Native Bee Species Map, or among the world's bees in the World Bee Atlas.

Quick Facts

Common nameMarsham's nomad bee

Scientific nameNomada marshamella

AuthorityKirby, 1802

FamilyApidae (Nomadinae)

UK statusWidespread and common

SizeLarge for a nomad (10 to 13 mm)

Main hostChocolate mining bee

ActiveApril to September (two forms)

LifestyleCleptoparasite (cuckoo bee)

MarkingsBlack with separated yellow spots

Pollen brushNone; collects no pollen

LookOften mistaken for a wasp

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Apidae
Subfamily	Nomadinae
Genus	Nomada
Species	Nomada marshamella

A wasp-like cuckoo bee

Marsham's nomad bee is one of the larger black-and-yellow nomad bees in Britain, with adults around 10 to 13 mm long and a slim, shining, almost hairless body that reads far more as wasp than bee.^[1][2] Like all cuckoo bees it carries no pollen brushes, because it provisions no nest of its own, and that lean build is part of why it is so easily mistaken for a small wasp.^[4] The genus name Nomada comes from a Greek word for wandering, which suits a bee that spends its days roaming low over the ground in search of other bees' burrows. William Kirby described the species in 1802 and named it after the entomologist Thomas Marsham, a friend of Kirby's and a founder of the Linnean Society.^[3]

Telling it from look-alikes

The closest confusion is with Gooden's nomad bee, a near-twin of similar size. The clearest difference is on the second segment of the abdomen: Marsham's shows two well-separated yellow spots there, where Gooden's has a single complete yellow band, and Marsham's has brown rather than yellow plates at the wing bases.^[2] It can also be confused with Nomada fulvicornis, but Marsham's lacks the red halos around the yellow markings on the first two abdominal segments that fulvicornis shows.^[2] Males of the much smaller Nomada zonata are similar but average smaller, with a shorter third antennal segment and darker hind shins.^[2]

Two separated yellow spots on the second segment, and brown wing-bases, mark out Marsham's nomad bee from its near-twin, Gooden's nomad bee.

A cuckoo of the chocolate mining bee

Marsham's nomad bee is a cleptoparasite, a cuckoo bee whose young live on food stored by mining bees of the genus Andrena.^[1] Its main host is the chocolate mining bee (Andrena scotica), a honeybee-sized spring mining bee, but it is also recorded from several other large Andrena, including the buffish mining bee, the orange-tailed mining bee, Trimmer's mining bee and the oak mining bee.^[1][5] The female loiters near the host's nest entrances and, when the owner is away, enters and lays an egg in the wall of a provisioned cell.^[6] Her grub hatches quickly and destroys the host's egg with sharp jaws, then eats the pollen and nectar laid up for the host larva.^[6] Nomad bees are thought to mimic the scent of their hosts, which helps the female slip past unchallenged.^[4]

0 pollen

Marsham's nomad bee gathers no pollen and builds no nest. Its entire life depends on the burrows and stores of mining bees.^[1]

Where and when you will see it

Marsham's nomad bee occurs as two forms with slightly different timing. A spring form, tied to the chocolate mining bee, flies from April to June, while a second form linked to later-nesting hosts such as Trimmer's mining bee can fly from late June into September, so the bee can be met across much of the warmer half of the year, though it is most numerous in spring.^[1] It is distributed throughout much of Britain, from southern England to northern Scotland, and is similarly widespread in Ireland, the Inner Hebrides and the Isle of Man. Curiously it is absent from the Channel Islands despite its main host being common there.^[1] Adults take nectar from spring flowers such as dandelions, gorse and blackthorn, but carry nothing home.^[5] National recording schemes do not regard it as scarce or threatened.^[1]

Two seasonal forms, a spring brood with the chocolate mining bee and a later brood with summer-nesting hosts, spread Marsham's nomad bee across much of the year.^[1]

Why the nomad bee matters

A common cuckoo bee like this is a quiet indicator of a healthy solitary-bee community. Where Marsham's nomad bee is thriving, its mining-bee hosts must be doing well too, since the cuckoo cannot exist without them.^[1] Far from being a problem, it is a natural and ancient part of the spring bee fauna, and protecting the open, sunny ground that mining bees nest in keeps their cuckoos in the picture as well. You can meet another British cuckoo bee in our guide to the painted nomad bee.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Marsham's nomad bee?

It is a cuckoo bee, Nomada marshamella, one of Britain's larger and commonest nomad bees. Instead of building a nest, it lays its eggs in the burrows of mining bees, chiefly the chocolate mining bee, where its young eat the food the host had stored.

Why is it called Marsham's nomad bee?

William Kirby, who described the species in 1802, named it after the entomologist Thomas Marsham, a friend of his and a founder of the Linnean Society. The genus name Nomada comes from a Greek word for wandering, describing how these bees roam in search of host nests.

Is Marsham's nomad bee a wasp or a bee?

It is a true bee that looks like a small wasp. Because it collects no pollen, it lacks the furry pollen brushes that pollen-gathering bees carry, leaving it slim, shiny and wasp-like.

What does Marsham's nomad bee parasitise?

Its main host is the chocolate mining bee (Andrena scotica). It is also recorded from other large mining bees, including the buffish mining bee, the orange-tailed mining bee, Trimmer's mining bee and the oak mining bee.

Do Marsham's nomad bees sting?

Females have a small sting but are not aggressive and almost never use it. With no colony or stores to defend, they pose no real concern to people, children or pets.

When are Marsham's nomad bees active?

Mainly from April to June, in step with the chocolate mining bee, with a later showing from late June into September where summer-nesting hosts are used. It is most numerous in spring.

Do nomad bees make honey?

No. Nomad bees gather no pollen and build no nest, so they make no honey. They visit flowers only to feed themselves on nectar. Only the honeybee makes honey in any quantity; compare the bee families in the World Bee Atlas.

Is Marsham's nomad bee rare?

No. It is a very common and widespread bee across most of Britain and Ireland, found in many habitats both coastal and inland, and is not regarded as scarce or threatened.

Related species

Nomad bee

Painted Nomad Bee

Nomada fucataRead more → Host

Buffish Mining Bee

Andrena nigroaeneaRead more → Host

Orange-tailed Mining Bee

Andrena haemorrhoaRead more →

Sources & references

BWARS (Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society). Species account: Nomada marshamella (main host Andrena carantonica / scotica, two seasonal forms, British and Irish distribution, status). bwars.com.
Falk, S. Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, Bloomsbury, and the Steven Falk Flickr collection: Nomada marshamella (size, separated tergite-2 spots, brown tegulae, separation from N. goodeniana, N. fulvicornis and N. zonata).
Else, G.R. & Edwards, M. (2018). Handbook of the Bees of the British Isles. Ray Society (taxonomy and nomenclature, including the dedication to Thomas Marsham).
BWARS. Britain's Bees, genus Nomada account: cleptoparasite biology, host-finding and the lack of pollen-carrying structures. bwars.com.
Falk, S. Steven Falk Flickr collection: Andrena scotica, the chocolate mining bee, host of Nomada marshamella and N. flava; forage and habitat notes.
Buzz About Bees. Marsham's nomad bee (Nomada marshamella): cleptoparasite life cycle, egg-laying in host cells and larval habits. buzzaboutbees.net.

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