Called flea beetles, the most common pest of eggplant by far. Despite the apparent damage they do to the leaves they pose no real threat to the plant except in cases of a really severe infestation and most of us just ignore them for the most part.

You can Google 'flea beetles' or type it in the search bar here for all sorts of details on them.

Dave

Agree, Flea beetle.
The damage is critical when the plants are in small seedling stage. Years a go I found a simple solution for it : NYLON NETTING, also called FRENCH TULLE, sold in fabric stores by yard at a reasonable price. They come at various tightness/mesh sizes and colors. What is more, is the they are see-through, rain and wind proof....can even deter many other critters like rabbits, rats, slugs(if secured all the way down to ground). They can also be used to bagging certain plant flowers and prevent cross pollination by insects... In my opinion it is quite a versatile tool.

Aha! I had googled flea beetles but these didn't look like the pictures, so I wasn't sure. Thank you both so much!

So @digdirt, this isn't a "severe" infestation? Will they eat my entire plant if I don't do anything? I have some DE I can put down, and I'll start hand squishing for sure. But the problem is, these plants are actually in a decorative planter on my front step... so even though I'm not above putting row cover over the whole darn thing (no gardener shame here), I guess I might use that as a last resort.

So @digdirt, this isn't a "severe" infestation? Will they eat my entire plant if I don't do anything?

No they just do "appearance" damage. All they do is make tiny holes in the leaves. It is often called "shotgun" leaves meaning the leaf looks like it was hit with tiny shotgun pellets. IMO the plant looks worse with the leaves dusted with DE but it is your choice.

Can't help but note you have at least 2 pepper plants also in the container. You don't think that container is over-crowded with plants?

Dave

I planted 2 Rosa Bianca eggplants and 2 basil plants in this container last year (it's a wine barrel) and I got 3-4 eggplant from each... is that less than I should have gotten per plant? This is only my 2nd year gardening so I'm definitely still figuring things out. This year I have 2 pepper plants, a basil, and the eggplant. I could transplant any of them out into different containers if you think they would make it.

Depends on when you transplanted them - if it was recent, you may still be able to get the peppers out (with a large block of soil around) and move them to a different pot. In your climate, you should get more than 3-4 Rosa Biancas per plant so they are probably a little crowded.

You won't be able to squish flea beetles - the little buggers will jump to Australia when your hand gets close.

Normal production would be at least 3x that amount - it can be a very large pant - so yes I would move both peppers out to separate containers each if possible. If it is Sweet Basil it too can get quite big, easily 3' tall and 2 feet wide. Other varieties are lower growing.

Dave

I have experienced very severe damage from flea beetles, to the point that they destroyed half of the leaves, which gave the plants little energy to produce fruits. Neighbors and friends recommended diatomaceous earth, and it did absolutely nothing. I generally don't use any pesticides and what I do use are organic. So, I was out of luck that year.

The picture in the initial post is nowhere near that point. However, if it gets worse I recommend row cover. For in-ground gardening, it's the best way. I've also found that if I'm growing eggplants in containers, if I put them up on cinder blocks or whatever I have handy to raise them off the ground, that works like a charm. I did that last year. Got them about 2 feet off the ground, and the container was about a foot tall. The flea beetles couldn't jump that high, I guess.