Odynerus spinipes is found in northwestern Europe and Scandinavia as far north as central Sweden and south to the Alps and southern France, there is also a record from Kazakhstan.

[4] Odynerus spinipes prefers open habitats and scrub, in Essex it has been mostly found in post industrial sites.

The location of the nest is first dampened with water before a group of five to six cells is created immediately behind the vertical face of the bank.

Other species of cuckoo wasps from the genus Chrysis as well as Pseudospinolia neglecta and Pseudomalus auratus have been recorded in the nests of O.

The cuticular hydrocarbon profile of Chrysis viridula does not show mimicry of its host due to its particular strategy for oviposition.