A univoltine species, flying from late July to mid-September rarely until October (Osytshnjuk 1977, Dylewska 1987)..
Parasites: The bee Nomada argentata is cited as a cleptoparasite of this species (Söderman & Leinonen, 2003).
Female gasters vary considerably in coloration. Typically they possess orange and black-banded terga and sterna, but there are two common, apparently geographic, variants. In western Britain and throughout its Irish range specimens are uniformly dark, resembling the male coloration. In these females both terga and sterna are black or brownish black, the marginal areas sometimes marked with narrow, anterior, transverse, reddish brown bands; sterna 2 may be extensively reddish brown. At the opposite extreme, a very pale form of the female occasionally occurs elsewhere in southern England, particularly in the south-east. In this form terga 2-5 and sterna 2-5 or 6 are entirely, or almost entirely, pale orange with no darker markings. Similar forms to the above are found elsewhere in western Europe (although the all-dark variant appears to be scarce) and may result from climatic factors.