Diet

• Adults: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on leaves and tender plant tissues. Many species are associated with particular host plants.

• Larvae: Generally develop in the soil or around plant roots, where they feed on roots and other underground plant tissues.

• Adult feeding produces the characteristic small, round holes associated with flea beetles.

Range

• Monoplatina is a Neotropical group of flea beetles in the leaf beetle tribe Alticini.

• Species occur from Mexico through Central America and into South America, with considerable diversity in tropical regions.

• Monoplatina flea beetles occur in Guerrero and around Zihuatanejo, where the warm tropical climate supports a diverse flea-beetle fauna.

• Around Zihuatanejo, they are occasional, although individual species may be locally common where their preferred host plants are abundant.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland, scrub, forest edges, grasslands, agricultural areas and disturbed vegetation.

• Adults are usually found on host-plant foliage, particularly in sunny clearings and along forest margins.

• Larvae are concealed in soil around the roots and are consequently much less frequently observed.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in).

• Small, compact beetles with enlarged hind femora that allow them to leap rapidly when disturbed.

• Colouration varies among species and may include black, brown, reddish, yellowish or metallic green and blue.