Alcea "Alcea" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including "Bucculatrix quadrigemina" and "Vanessa cardui", the painted lady. The mallow flea beetle ("Podagrica fuscicornis") is a pest that makes tiny holes in the leaves. Cutworms, aphids, and capsid bugs use the plant as a food source in hotter and drier conditions. A number of weevils use "A. rosea" as their host plant, including "Rhopalapion longirostre", "Alocentron curvirostre", and "Aspidapion validum". The plants are also susceptible to the pathogenic fungus "Puccinia malvacearum", the hollyhock rust. A hollyhock flower, known in Japan as , was incorporated into
Rhodopetala rosea solely on shell characteristics), Lindberg proposed the creation of a new subfamily within the Acmaeidae to be called "Rhodopetaleinae" with this species as its only member. It is distinguished from the other subfamilies of this family by its helcioniform rather than conical shell, a silvery metallic luster in its central area rather than a porcelaneous quality, and the presence of a rudimentary gill lacking ctenidial structures. It is the combination of the shell structure (patellid) and anatomy (acmaeid) which suggest this is an intermediary group between the acmaeid and cellanid limpets. Rhodopetala rosea Rhodopetala rosea, common name the pink limpet,