Lace Bug

Scientific Name: Corythucha spp. (commonly Corythucha ciliata for sycamore lace bug)

Order & Family: Hemiptera: Tingidae

Size: 3 to 6 millimeters (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch) in length

Lace Bug

Natural Habitat

Typically found on the undersides of leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs, such as sycamore, oak, or azalea.

Diet & Feeding

They use piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on the sap (plant juices) of host leaves, causing stippling or yellowing.

Behavior Patterns

They are slow-moving insects that often live in colonies on the underside of leaves. They undergo incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult).

Risks & Benefits

They are primarily plant pests and do not pose a direct health risk to humans, though they can occasionally land on people and bite. Their presence can weaken host plants.

Identified on: 12/26/2025