Polylectic. Females of the first brood are reported to gather pollen from flowers of Salix (Salicaceae); Prunus (Rosaceae) and Brassica (Brassicaceae) in spring, whilst the second brood favours Rubus (Rosaceae) and thistles (Asteraceae) (R.C.L. Perkins 1923). In Bedfordshire, Sinapis and Brassica (Brassicaceae) cultivars are established pollen sources (Chambers 1968a). Other flower visiting records (possibly only nectar sources) exist for Bryonia (Cucurbitaceae); Smyrnium olusatrum, Oenanthe (Apiaceae); Sarothamus (Fabaceae); Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae); Armeria maritima (Plumbaginaceae); Mentha aquatica, Thymus drucei (Lamiaceae); Chrysanthemum leucanthemum and Taraxacum (Asteraceae).
In Germany, pollen sources belonging to seven plant families are listed by Westrich (1989).
Radchenko (2015), citing others, states that it is broadly polylectic (Popov 1967a, Osytshnjuk 1977, Pesenko et al. 1982, Beil et al. 2008). For example, in Ukraine the females visit flowers of more than 50 plant species from 19 families. It is known as one of the main pollinators of different fruit and pumpkin crops (Filov 1935, Nevkryta 1950, Rymashevskiy and Rymashevskaya 1958, Rasulov 1966).
The males pollinate different species of Orchidaceae (especially Ophrys exaltata, O. garganica and O. sphegodes) through pseudocopulation (Xu et al. 2012).