A univoltine but long lived species. Both sexes overwinter. Mavromoustakis (1951) reports adult activity from January to November in Cyprus
A species is known from 8 localities in Poland from the period 1868-1935; since then there has been no confirmation of its occurrence in Poland. A decline of Xylocopa violacea (its Polish population was separated from the continuous range) was probably caused by scarcity of old and dry trees where females nest.