Pollen foraging preferences of Heriades carinata Cresson were investigated by trap nesting in field sites near Pellston, Michigan during the summers of 1988 and 1990. During the peak of the nesting season, females of H. carinata provisioned exclusively with pollen from Rhus typhina L. (Anacardiaceae). The flight season of H. carinata was synchronized with the flowering of Rhus, and nesting activity by H. carainata was only found in study sites containing Rhus. H. carinata is at least regionally specialized on Rhus and may be oligolectic on this plant genus. Timed flights of H. carinata females foraging for Rhus pollen were not different from those foraging from other plants. Survival by offspring of H. carinata to adulthood was higher on provisions consisting of Rhus pollen than on other pollens.