Monkey beetles are a tribe of scarab beetles (Hopliini) of over a thousand described species, the great majority endemic to southern Africa with their greatest diversity in the Greater Cape Floristic Region and Succulent Karoo. Adults feed on pollen, nectar, and floral tissue of open, bowl-shaped flowers — especially in the daisy (Asteraceae), vygie (Aizoaceae), and iris (Iridaceae) families — and use those flowers as mating rendezvous sites, which makes them among the most important pollinators in the Cape. Larvae are soil-dwelling white grubs that feed on organic matter. Garden plantings of Cape daisies with open, dark-centred flowerheads — such as treasure flowers, African daisies, and Barberton daisies — offer the open-bowl flowers this group depends on in its native range.

Plants this species pollinates · 1

Pollen plants · 2

Greatest diversity in South Africa's Greater Cape Floristic Region and Succulent Karoo, with around 1,000 described species; the tribe also occurs in Madagascar, the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean basin, and Asia, but the great majority of South African species are national endemics.