Lace Bug
Scientific Name: Stephanitis spp. / Corythucha spp.
Order & Family: Order Hemiptera, Family Tingidae
Size: 2 mm to 8 mm (approx. 1/8 to 1/3 inch)
Natural Habitat
Found on the undersides of leaves of various landscape trees and shrubs such as azaleas, rhododendrons, and sycamores.
Diet & Feeding
Herbivorous piercer-suckers; they feed on the sap of host plant leaves, causing yellow or white stippling on the upper leaf surface.
Behavior Patterns
They are slow-moving and often spend their entire life cycle on the host plant. They leave behind small, dark, varnish-like spots of excrement on the leaf undersides.
Risks & Benefits
They are significant garden and nursery pests that can damage the aesthetic and health of ornamental plants; they do not bite or pose a direct risk to humans.
Identified on: 12/27/2025