Cleptoparasitic: Hosts. This species is a cleptoparasite of Anthophora retusa (Soika, 1936; Lieftinck, 1980). In Venice, Soika (1936) encountered a female Melecta luctuosa while he was excavating a nest of A. retusa in a vertical earth slope. The cleptoparasite was at the end of a burrow and was in the act of breaking into a sealed cell of the host. When this was achieved the bee turned around within the burrow and reversed, the tip of its gaster being thrust into the cell. Following its departure from the nest, the cell was further opened by Soika and examined. An egg had been deposited on the provision and close to a newly hatched larva of the host. The egg and first instar larva of the Melecta are also described and the head capsule of the larva figured by Soika.
Celary (1990) additionally cites Anthophora aestivalis and Anthophora parietina as hosts of this bee.