The larvae form slender spindle-shaped galls (fig. 41) on stems of Helianthus trachelifolius Mill. [< H. decapetalus per Weakley's most recent (2023) draft flora], usually toward the upper part of the stem. Galls vary in length and diameter from 2 cm. in length with a diameter of .5 cm. to 4 or 5 cm. in length with a correspondingly lesser diameter. Feeding is completed in the latter half of September, the larva hibernating in the gall through the winter, escaping in the spring through a minute circular aperture.
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The specimens identified by Breland and Schmitt in their paper on the “ Biology of Two Sunflower Gall Makers” (Ent. News, LIX, pp. 225-234, 1948) as B. fusicola Braun are examples of B. simulans, new species, and are included in the type series of that species. The galls figured by these authors do not resemble those of B. fusicola.