Monolepta is a genus of skeletonizing leaf beetles in the family Chrysomelidae.

[1] It is the most diverse and widely distributed genus in the Galerucinae sensu stricto, with more than 700 described species occurring almost worldwide.

[2] The genus was first established by Louis Alexandre Auguste Chevrolat in 1836 to include species of Galerucinae with an elongated basi-metatarsus (the first tarsomere of the hind leg).

In 1875, Félicien Chapuis established the supra-generic group "Monoleptites", which included other Galerucinae with an elongated basi-metatarsus.

The group "Monoleptites" was later found to be polyphyletic, as an elongated basi-metatarsus has evolved multiple times in the Galerucinae.