Oligolectic: Lysimachia (Primulaceae).
Oil Collecting: Uniquely amongst European bees, trhe genus Macropis has a requirement to collect floral oil, and the species collects this solely from Lysimachia vulgaris. The Lysimachia oil is secreted by special thin-walled glands known as trichome elaiophores which are distributed over the staminal tubes and the internal base of the corolla. The female ruptures these glands by the use of modified pads of velvety hairs and/or spines on the underside of the fore tarsus (illustrated in O’Toole & Raw, 1991). The released oil droplets are absorbed by these hairs and passed to the scopa on the hind tibia (mid-tarsus of M. fulvipes, showing specialised hairs, figured by Müller, Krebs & Amiet (1997)). Here the oil is mixed with the pollen and carried to the nest (O’Toole & Raw, 1991). Foraging behaviour is also described by Vogel (1986).