Excavator: Ground. In Europe, this species nests mainly in large aggregations in rather hard ground, amongst sparse vegetation on horizontal, even surfaces, the nest burrows running vertically (Kocourek, 1966). The nesting habits of this species are also described in detail by Vleugel (1947); his aggregation was in a very steep slope. Extremely extensive nesting aggregations (exceptionally ten thousand nests in one site) occur along the Rhine, West Germany (P. Westrich, pers. comm.).
The species nests in large aggregations in bare or sparsely vegetated soil in warm and sunny conditions (Osytshnjuk 1977, Dylewska 1987, Falk 1991, Banaszak 2010). A large aggregation of up to 4,000 nests was found recently in northwest Germany (Exeler et al. 2006).