Adults are true leaf beetles, yellow with black stripes. Larvae are brick red, have a hump back, and are about 3/5 inch long.
Both larvae and adults devour foliage of eggplant, Irish potato, and tomato and may be very destructive. Adults hibernate and emerge during the early stages of shoot development.
Eggs are laid on the undersurface of leaves and hatch in about a week. Pupation occurs in an earthen cell in the soil, and adults burrow back to the surface. Then they mate, feed, and begin their life cycle anew.
