A shiny, metallic black beetle less than one centimeter in length, is fond of eating macaranga, and eggplant leaves. I observed that these beetles can eat continuously for almost eleven hours at a time. They come, when it is not too dark, and when you can barely see your plants’ leaves. The black beetle continues eating the leaf, until the next day early morning. Sometimes these beetles switch to other leaves or plants, during their eating time.

The black beetle is eating a macaranga leaf (Left), and an eggplant leaf (Right)

When a plant has many leaves, and the plant is healthy, it usually bears new leaves. It can tolerate the damage of a few beetles. These beetles hide on the ground during the day. Therefore, you have to remove the weeds, and the fallen leaves, under and close to the plant. The babbler bird can control the beetle population. However, some other insects too eat the leaves. The decrease in the number of these beetles will not happen overnight.

Some damaged macaranga leaves