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The striped flea beetle is a small flea beetle, shiny black with a greenish tinge, 1.5 to 2.5 mm long, having a wavy amber line running the length of each elytron. It is a pest of cabbage and other brassicas. The hind legs are thickened, enabling the beetle to jump like a flea when disturbed.
The minute, oval to elongate white eggs are laid in the soil close to the host plant. The white, brown-headed larva, when fully grown, is 3.2 to 5.0 mm long. It has three pairs of tiny legs near its head. The white pupa is approximately the same size and shape as the adult.
Eurasian in origin, the striped flea beetle is common throughout the eastern and Pacific areas of the United States , as well as in South Africa.
Although the larvae live in the soil, feeding on the roots of host plants, they are not significant pests. Rather, the primary damage is caused by adult beetles feeding on the foliage. With their chewing mouthparts, beetles make small round pits in the cotyledons and leaves of young plants. As the plants grow, the remaining thin layers of tissue eventually dry up and fall away, leaving small "shot holes" in the foliage. This type of injury is capable of killing young plants. The seedlings may be killed if severe damage occurs. In addition, beetles may act as vectors of plant disease.