Scabiosa | Centaurea scabiosa | Leaf of ''Centaurea scabiosa |
Andrena hattorfiana is an oligolectic species, feeding its young only on pollen of a few species of Dipsacaceae (Knautia arvensis, Scabiosa columbaria, Centaurea species).
They suck nectar of the preferred blue violet flowers, such as on field scabious (Knautia arvensis), Dove Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa columbaria), meadow knapweed (Centaurea jacea), panicle knapweed (Centaurea stoebe), creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense), Bulbous thistle (Cirsium tuberosum) and ring thistle (Carduus).