I've seen a few of them hanging around on my eggplants. I know they aren't one of the good bugs but I wasn't sure exactly what harm they cause. I've seen holes in my leaves but I've also seen catapillers hiding on the bottom sides of the leaves so I assumed it was them doing the damage.

What's the difference between the striped and dotted cucumber beetles? Do they cause different types of damage? I've seen the spotted on my plants.

The striped beetles like vine crops best. They might infest some other plants.

Spotted cucumber beetles don't overwinter in cold climes, but blow north on the summer winds. They act somewhat like the striped ones.

Then there are the pesky corn root worm beetles that are dark on top and yellow underneath. They like corn and perhaps other things.

In my experience, the worst thing cucumber beetles do is spread disease, which is what kills the plants. That's why I think you need to be aggressive in getting rid of them. I grow a variety that is supposed to be unattractive to them (Diva) and also spray with spinosad, an organic insecticide, as soon as I see them. The best control is probably row covers so they never touch your plants. I haven't figured out how to do that in a container.

Ohiofem, Actually, if they kill the seedlings, they don't even get going good. I would call the sudden appearance yesterday the first emergence which was so much later than usual that it caught me a bit off guard...just trying to warn the folks about them on seedlings.