Excavator: Ground. Under favourable conditions this species nests in large aggregations. The nest is briefly described by Westrich (1989).
H. scabiosae is a eusocial species, mated females overwintering communally in their natal nest and forming polygynous communities the following spring. The nest is established by a group of gynes, instead of by a single individual. Among the group one female develops enlarged ovaries and becomes the sole egg-layer within the nest. Her associates act as workers. The reproductive female guards the nest and becomes increasingly aggressive, denying entrance to her auxiliaries, even though these may be collecting pollen for her nest. Ultimately they are driven away from the nest before the first of the egg-layer’s progeny (workers) emerge. Knerer and Plateaux-Quenu (1967) demonstrated that these outcasts excavate their own individual nests or usurp unguarded nests of either their own species or those of other halictids. Usurpers usually merely enlarge an existing nest by adding their own cells, but are also known to kill the nest owner; they may also fill in around the cell clusters of the host species with loose earth. However, in one cell of Lasioglossum nigripes Knerer and Plateaux found a probable egg of H. scabiosae. If the identification was correct, then this species’ behaviour approaches that of a typical, cleptoparasitic Sphecodes.