Excavator: Ground. This species forms dense and conspicuous nesting aggregations on sandy inclines between 45 and 85 (O'Toole, 1974). Some aggregations may be extremely large, for example, in Sweden, Cane and Tengö (1981) reported on two which each contained over 2000 nests. In Britain, nesting aggregations can be as dense as 30 nests per square metre (O'Toole & Raw, 1991); however, at Kenfig dunes, West Glamorgan, there are aggregations of up to 1800 nests each (C. O'Toole, pers. comm.). More often, however, aggregations are much smaller, consisting of 20-30 nests (Malyshev, 1935).
According to Malyshev (1927, 1935) the main, more or less perpendicular, access burrow of each nest gives rise to short, alternate and radially arranged, lateral branches, each terminating in a single cell. These branches are concentrated in the deepest quarter of the nest, so that the vertical distance between the shallowest and deepest cells is only 4-8 cm. In hard soil, the main burrow may be only 12 cm in length, but in a looser substrate, this may be extended to 28 cm (79 cm in the deepest dune nests in south Lancashire, C. O'Toole, pers. comm.).
Vereecken (pers. comm.) states that females build their underground nest in sandy areas, usually on flat surfaces. The shape of the nest entrance is reminiscent of a warren, and the underground architecture is quite simple, being made of a single vertical gallery (ca. 30cm in length) from which peripheral galleries branch off perpendicularly, ultimately leading to the brood cells.