On a recent morning, Ellison Orcutt set out to survey a private property in Isle of Wight County, equipped with a butterfly net and glass sample vials.
He dragged the net atop plants such as goldenrod and scratch daisies, sweeping up a host of buzzing insects.
Orcutt, lead field zoologist with the Virginia Natural Heritage Program, in particular was hoping to find Protandrena abdominalis, a rare native bee with red coloring that nests in sandy ground…