The insect can also be very common where there are creeping thistles (Cirsium arvense) or swamp thistles (Cirsium palustre), oregano (Origanum vulgare), Forest scabious (Knautia sylvatica), or hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) which are favourite foodplants of the imagos.
Heracleum sphondylium | Heracleum mantegazzianum | Larval web in an umbel of ''Heracleum sphondylium | Heracleum (plant) | Heracleum |
Adult wasps feed on aphid honeydew and nectar of Anthriscus sylvestris and Heracleum sphondylium.
They can be encountered from May through late summer feeding on small insects and on nectar and pollen of flowers from various plants (mainly Apiaceae family, as Anthriscus sylvestris, Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium), but also on Rubus fruticosus and Crataegus monogyna.