Image: Sweet Potato Leaves Showing Flea Beetle Damage
Published: January 17, 2026 at 7:09:00 PM UTC
High-resolution image of sweet potato leaves displaying characteristic flea beetle damage, with shot-hole feeding patterns visible across green, heart-shaped foliage.
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Image description
The image presents a detailed, high-resolution view of sweet potato foliage growing densely in a cultivated or garden setting. The composition is filled almost entirely with overlapping leaves, creating a textured green canopy that extends across the frame. The leaves are characteristically heart-shaped to slightly triangular, with gently pointed tips and smooth margins. Their surfaces display a range of green tones, from lighter yellow-green areas to deeper, richer greens, suggesting natural variation in leaf age, light exposure, and plant health. Prominent veins radiate from the leaf petioles, some showing a faint purplish hue that is typical of sweet potato plants and provides subtle contrast against the green lamina. The most striking visual feature is the extensive flea beetle damage visible across many of the leaves. Numerous small, round to irregularly shaped holes pepper the leaf surfaces, creating a distinctive shot-hole or pitted appearance. In some leaves, the damage is light and scattered, while in others it is heavy, with clusters of holes merging into larger, lace-like sections where significant portions of leaf tissue have been removed. The pattern of feeding damage is uneven, indicating active insect feeding over time rather than a single event. Despite the damage, the leaves remain largely intact and attached to healthy stems, suggesting ongoing growth and resilience of the plants. The stems visible between the leaves are slender and slightly curved, with a reddish-purple coloration that contrasts with the foliage and helps define the plant structure. The background is softly blurred and composed of additional foliage and ground vegetation, keeping the viewer’s focus on the damaged leaves in the foreground. Lighting appears natural and diffuse, likely from daylight, with no harsh shadows, allowing the textures, veins, and holes in the leaves to be clearly seen. Overall, the image functions as an informative and realistic depiction of flea beetle injury on sweet potato leaves, useful for agricultural identification, pest management education, or documentation of crop health under insect pressure.
The image is related to: A Complete Guide to Growing Sweet Potatoes at Home