Lace Bugs—A Serious Pest of Your
Ornamental Trees and Shrubs

Lace bugs are common garden insect pests that damage a variety of ornamental trees and shrubs. They live on the under side of leaves and suck the leaf juices through their slender mouthparts. As the bugs feed, producing a white spot on the upper part of the leaf, they drop a varnish-like substance onto the surface of the leaf. These are called tar spots.

Lace bugs were named due to the thorax and fore-wings on the adult, which have a fragile and elaborate system of separated parts that look like lace.

Usually the head is hidden underneath the hood like thorax. They may be oblong or slim.

Lace bugs are usually host unique. Each type does serious damage to the tree or shrub to which it has adapted.

Every individual generally finishes its complete existence on a single plant, often on the same section of that plant.

The majority live on the undersurfaces of foliage. They eat by striking the leaf surface and sucking the sap that oozes from the damage. The cells that have been drained of fluid then change color, giving the area a darkened look.

Common Lace Bug Species

• Azalea
• Hawthorn (it also attacks cotoneaster pyracantha, flowering quince, crabapple, mountain ash and shadbush)
• Oak
• Basswood, also attacks lindens
• Sycamore
• Hackberry
• Rhododendron (it also attacks mountain laurel)
• Andromeda

There are two types of lace bugs.

• The ones that feed on deciduous trees/shrubs. The adults hibernate in winter under the leaf litter or bark of the plant. An example is the hawthorn type, which peaks in number in early summer.
• The ones that feed on evergreens. The eggs attach to the leaves in winter. Example is the azalea species of lace bug.

The adult is about 1/16 to 1/8 inch (1.5 to 3 mm) long. They are slow moving insects.

Control Methods

• Monitor the trees and shrubs that lace bugs feed on.
• Plant the at-risk trees and shrubs in shady areas of garden.
• Use a hard jet of water to knock the bugs off plants.
• Use natural predators like green lacewings, praying mantids, assassin bugs and ladybugs.

From lace bugs to Organic Pest Remedies H-N

Lace bugs were named due to the thorax and fore-wings on the adult, which have a fragile and elaborate system of separated parts that look like lace.

Usually the head is hidden underneath the hood like thorax. They may be oblong or slim.

Lace bugs are usually host unique. Each type does serious damage to the tree or bush to which it has adapted.

Every individual generally finishes its complete existence on a single plant, often on the same section of that plant.

The majority live on the undersurfaces of foliage. They eat by striking the leaf surface and sucking the sap that oozes from the damage. The cells that have been drained of fluid then change color, giving the area a darkened look.

Common Lace Bug Species

• Azalea
• Hawthorn (it also attacks cotoneaster pyracantha, flowering quince, crabapple, mountain ash and shadbush)
• Oak
• Basswood, also attacks lindens
• Sycamore
• Hackberry
• Rhododendron (it also attacks mountain laurel)
• Andromeda

There are two types of lace bugs.

• The ones that feed on deciduous trees/shrubs. The adults hibernate in winter under the leaf litter or bark of the plant. An example is the hawthorn type, which peaks in number in early summer.
• The ones that feed on evergreens. The eggs attach to the leaves in winter. Example is the azalea species of lace bug.

The adult is about 1/16 to 1/8 inch (1.5 to 3 mm) long. They are slow moving insects.

Control Methods

• Monitor the trees and bushes that lace bugs feed on.
• Plant the at-risk trees and bushes in shady areas of garden.
• Use a hard jet of water to knock the bugs off plants.
• Use natural predators like green lacewings, praying mantids, assassin bugs and ladybugs.

From Lace Bugs to Organic Pest Remedies H-N