These native insects occur from Mexico to Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. Their occurrence in Fontenelle Forest is not known. Unmated adults overwinter in neighboring woodlands under leaves and trash or around the bases of plants that have not been killed by frost.

Spotted adults of this genus are often mistaken for lady beetles. Leaf beetles are diverse, colorful plant eaters. Most of them live off a particular species of host and several cause much damage to crops while others have been imported to control noxious weeds.. In the adult form it eats and damages leaves of many crops, including cucumbers, soybeans, cotton beans and many others. In the larval form, which is known as the southern corn rootworm, it tunnels through the roots of young plants, stunting or killing them. They are most abundant and destructive in their southern range, but usually are not troublesome in areas with sandy soils.