The three-lined potato beetle is a little larger than 1/4 inch long, with reddish yellow wing covers with three black stripes running down its back. It has a reddish orange prothorax (the area behind the head) with two small black dots on it.
Overwintered beetles emerge in early spring and feed on solanaceous plants and weeds including Chinese lantern (Physalis alkekengi), eggplant, tomato plants. Females deposit eggs in clusters of 6–10 on the undersides of leaves. Eggs hatch in about two weeks and young larvae feed, beginning at the edge of the leaf and moving backward as they eat the tissue. Larvae become full grown in about two weeks.The larvae protect themselves by carrying their own excrement on their back. Larvae pupate in mid to late summer. There may be one or two generations each year.
