The avid student who becomes familiar with leaf beetle food plants, food plant habitats, and beetle identification and biology can become both a competent botanist and entomologist. Moreover, the lives of many leaf beetles are poorly known, so even amateur coleopterists can make a contribution to science. The leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae, are the fourth largest family of the order Coleoptera. There are over 1400 species of leaf beetles in North America. They are usually ovoid in shape and bear antennae that are usually half as long as their bodies.
Many leaf beetles lay eggs in groups on the underside of food plant leaves.
These egg groups are called eggmasses and may be composed of several dozen eggs. Eggs of leaf beetles are usually yellow-orange and elongate. Leaf beetle eggs hatch in 2 days to a week, depending on temperature. The first food the larvae consume is their nutrient-rich eggshells. Sometimes this is bad news for larvae that develop more slowly than the rest.