Polylectic. On English heathlands it is apparently restricted to Calluna vulgaris and Erica species (Ericaceae). British females will occasionally exploit other sources. For example, the pollen load from an Oxford female was analysed by P. Westrich and found to contain only Caryophyllaceae pollen. At Studland, Dorset, G.M. Spooner (pers. comm.) has observed females taking pollen from Pinus cones (Pinaceae). On Gower, West Glamorgan, it has been reported to visit Myosotis collina (Boraginaceae)(Hallett, 1928), but it is not stated whether this was purely a pollen or only a nectar source. On heathland males similarly visit Calluna vulgaris.
In Germany, foraging from species in the families Caryophyllaceae, Cistaceae and Ericaceae (Westrich, 1989).
There is a Polish record of a female at flowers of Solidago virgaurea (Asteraceae) (Pesenko, Banaszak et al., 2000).
Pauly (2008) states that on continental heathlands, the species has a pereference for Erica tetralix and Vaccinium (Ericaceae) and Cistus (Cistaceae) in the Mediterranean maquis. It will also occasionally forage at Brassicaceae; Tamarix africana (Tamaricaceae); Epilobium angustifolium (Onagraceae); Angelica (Apiaceae); Calluna, Erica cinerea (Ericaceae); Eupatorium, Helichrysum stoechas, Inula viscosa, Centaurea jacea, Achillea millefolium, Achillea ptarmica, Helianthemum alyssoides, Matricaria (Asteraceae); Euphorbia helioscopa (Euphorbiaceae); Lavandula stoechas (Lamiaceae); Oxalis pes-caprae (Oxalidaceae); Labularia maritima (Brassicaceae); Frangula alnus (Rhamnaceae); Halimium lasianthum (Cistaceae).
Ortiz-Sanchez & Pauly (2017) report visitation to Cytisus scoparius (Fabaceae) in the Coto Doñana NP, Andalucia, southern Spain.