It was first described in 1803 by the German priest, botanist and entomologist, Franz von Paula Schrank.

The larvae feed within the tissue of brambles, creating abnormal plant growths known as galls.

In the early summer the gall midge lays a cluster of up to forty eggs in young bramble shoots.

Rapid cell growth of the tissue creates a rounded swelling of 5 x 2  cm in the stem, which sometimes has longitudinal fissures, and contains several irregular cavities with larvae.

France and Spain in the west, to Finland, Ukraine and Russia in the east.