Lace Bugs
Small flat insects with clear lacy wings that feed on the undersides of leaves. The top of the leaf goes pale and finely speckled while the underside collects shiny black droppings.
Pest checklist
Four things to look for. If most of them match what you are holding, you are in the right place.
What gets rid of them
Gentlest option first. For most backyard cases the first one is enough, so try these in order and stop as soon as it works. If you do spray something, the product label tells you how — please read the notice further down.
1Move it out of the sun
Azalea, pieris and rhododendron in hot afternoon sun get hit hardest. The permanent fix is siting them in part shade.
Try this first2Water in dry spells
Drought-stressed broadleaf evergreens carry far heavier lace bug numbers than well-watered ones.
3Soap or horticultural oil on the undersides
Both kill on contact but only where they land, so spray up into the leaf undersides and repeat as new nymphs hatch.
horticultural oil spray concentrate4Leave the predators be
Lacewings and predatory bugs clean lace bugs up. Broad-spectrum sprays remove them and the problem comes back heavier.
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Which plants get lace bugs
Every plant we cover that gets lace bugs, grouped by type — tap any one to open its page. A note beside a plant came from that plant’s own entry, because the same pest can be a minor nuisance on one plant and a serious problem on another. Plenty of plants we do not cover get it too.
trees7
shrubs5
AzaleaRhododendron spp. (deciduous & evergreen)stippled bronze leaves = too much sun
Flowering QuinceChaenomeles speciosa
Mountain LaurelKalmia latifoliastippled leaves in too much sun
Pieris (Andromeda)Pieris japonicathe pieris pest — stippled leaves in sun/dry
RhododendronRhododendron catawbiense hybrids
Plant families hit hardest
Related plants often share the same problems, so if one plant in a family has it, check the others. The largest group here is Ericaceae, with 4 of the 12 affected plants.
- Ericaceae4 plants
- Rosaceae3 plants
When to treat
Start checking leaf undersides in early May and keep checking through summer. Treat when you find live bugs. Old stippling never turns green again, so bleached leaves by themselves are not a reason to spray.
On specific plants
- Growing
- Site in part shade with moisture; lace bug is worst on stressed, sunny plants.
Timing only — the label is the law
This page tells you when to watch for lace bugs and when treating is worth considering. It is not a recommendation to apply any particular product. Read and follow the product label before you spray — under federal law the label is the legal instruction, and using a pesticide against it is illegal.
- Check the pre-harvest interval. Every product that’s cleared for an edible crop sets a minimum number of days between spraying and picking. Find it on the label before you spray anything you intend to eat.
- Check the re-entry interval before you or anyone else works in the treated area again, and use the protective equipment the label names.
- Confirm the product is registered for your crop in your state. This page groups many different crops together, and a product legal on one of them is not legal on all of them — state registrations differ too. Your state pesticide agency or local extension office can confirm both.
- Rates and mixing instructions come from the label, never from us. We don’t publish them because they differ by product and formulation.
Other problems on the same plants
If a plant gets lace bugs, these are the problems it most often gets as well, so they are worth checking for while you are out there. They tend to appear together; one does not cause another.