Lace Bug
Scientific Name: Tingidae family (various genera like Corythucha)
Order & Family: Order: Hemiptera, Family: Tingidae
Size: Very small, typically 3 to 6 mm (1/8 to 1/4 inch) in length
Natural Habitat
Found on the undersides of leaves of various deciduous trees and shrubs, such as azaleas, sycamores, oaks, and fruit trees.
Diet & Feeding
Herbivorous sap-suckers; they use piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant juices from the undersides of leaves, often causing stippling or bleaching on the upper leaf surface.
Behavior Patterns
Adults shelter in bark crevices during winter and emerge in spring related to leaf growth. They tend to not move quickly and rely on camouflage. Their distinctive 'lacy' wing pattern is their primary identifier.
Risks & Benefits
Risks: They are plant pests that cause cosmetic damage (stippling, tar-like spots of excrement) and can stress trees if infestations are severe, though they rarely kill healthy plants. Benefits: None significant to humans, but they serve as food for generalist predators like spiders and ladybugs.
Identified on: 2/8/2026