Beetles are brownish-gray and less than half an inch long with a short snout. Margins of wing covers are banded with white, but wings are fused together so they cannot fly. The females bear young without mating. No males are known. Adults feed on over 170 different kinds of plants.
Larvae feed on roots of some 400 plants and overwinter in the soil. Beetles emerge during late spring and lay eggs-only one generation a year is produced.
