This has the effect of staggering the emergence adults, thus making allowance where the breeding season has adversely affected by poor summer weather.

[2] It is polylectic with a preference for Fabaceae; additional pollen sources include Vaccinium and Salix[3] In Scotland this bee relies almost entirely on Lotus corniculata for its food.

Favoured habitat there comprises exposed sheep pasture on low, dry hillocks on a south-facing mica-schist escarpment with a vegetation of heavily-grazed heather, with lichen and moss predominating amongst it.

Near to the site the likely forage plants used by the bee there included Lotus corniculatus, Ajuga reptans and Vaccinium myrtillus[4] Otherwise the species has an Arctic-alpine distribution, being found at low altitudes north of the Arctic Circle and in more montane locations further south.

Agricultural intensification is causing the loss of herb-rich, short sward grasslands, as do commercial afforestation or insufficient grazing.