Univoltine, with an extended flight period. Females fly from late April (exceptionally late March) to late September; males from mid or late June to early October. In Devon, G.M. Spooner (pers. comm.) considered the species to be double-brooded, at least in some seasons
Parasites and predators Two (possibly 3) Sphecodes species have been recorded as cleptoparasites of this species: S. gibbus (Hallett, 1928; R.C.L. Perkins, 1945; G.M. Spooner, pers. comm.) and S. monilicornis (Carr, 1916; R.C.L. Perkins, 1923, 1924; Hallett, 1928). Pesenko, Banaszak et al.,(2000) also cite Sphecodes rufithorax as a possible cleptoparasite. The conopid fly Zodion cinereum is listed as a parasitoid of this species (K.G.V. Smith, 1959).
Stubbs (2001) citing Verral, suggests that the bee-fly Bombylius canescens may be an inquiline in nests of this species.