Melitta are medium-sized, long-haired solitary bees. They resemble banded mining bees (Andrena), but with thicker feet, truncated antennal tips and without facial foveae. Both sexes look alike, but females have shorter antennae, tibial scopae and sometimes a slightly larger size. They are specialized bees with narrow foraging preferences, often restricted to a single plant family. Females prepare a mix of pollen and nectar as food provisions for their larvae. Males fly at high speed around host plants and only land to feed or copulate.