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LT · alyvbitės, urvabitės
PL · spójnicowate
Melittids are typically small to moderate-sized bees, which are well known for their specialist and oligolectic foraging habits. Melittids are strictly solitary and they nest in burrows that they dig in soil or sand. All females can reproduce and tend to emerge from the ground some days before the male. They generally mate on host-plants surrounding the area they have emerged. After mating, the gravid female creates a burrow where they bring pollen. On top of the pollen, one egg is laid. This is consumed by the larva over 10 days, after which the larva overwinters and pupates in the next year. Many melittids (such as Macropis) possess specialized morphology that allow them to collect floral oil.