Lace Bug Control in Your Garden

Lace Bugs are one of those pests that can be easily missed if you are not keeping a regular eye on your plants. They are very small and usually located on the underside of leaves, so you may not notice them until damage occurs.

The trick is to monitor the plants (such as Azaleas or Olives) that regularly suffer from infestations of Lace Bugs. If you can find the infestation early, you may be able to pick off a couple of leaves, or prune off a few shoots, and remove the problem completely. Removing infested florets on Macadamia trees may also work.

If the infestation is severe on ornamental plants, such as Azaleas and Rhododendrons, spray the affect foliage thoroughly with Yates Advanced Garden Insect Killer - Please note, this product is only suitable for the control of lace bugs on ornamental plants. 

There are some sprays that are available to home gardeners, but they are quite toxic to Bees, which is a problem if you have Lace Bugs on a Macadamia tree. Macadamia Lace Bugs feed and breed in the flowers, so if you kill the bugs you may kill the Bees – which means no Macadamia nuts. Check the label for information about toxicity to Bees and don't spray when Bees are active.

A Sycamore Lace Bug infestation on a Plane Tree may require trunk injection with a registered systemic insecticide. It is best to contact your local council and/or an arborist for advice.

Lace Bugs are small sap-sucking insects that are members of the bug family Tingidae.

Azalea Lace Bug

Azalea Lace Bug (Stephanitis pyrioides) is an introduced sap-sucking insect originally from Japan that is a common pest where Azaleas and Rhododendrons are grown.

Olive Lace Bug

Olive Lace Bug (Froggattia olivinia) is a native insect of eastern Australia that is now one of the most common pests of olives and is found in most olive growing areas in Australia, including Western Australia. Olive Lace Bug is a major pest of cultivated olives in orchards as well as home gardens.

Macadamia Lace Bug

Macadamia Lace Bugs are native to northern NSW and parts of Queensland. The taxonomy is unclear at present, but it appears that several species in three genera (Cercotingis, Proteatingis, and Ulonemia) feed on Macadamias.

Sycamore Lace Bug

Sycamore Lace Bug (Corythucha ciliata) was accidentally introduced from North America and it is found exclusively on plane trees (Platanus spp.). Sycamore Lace Bug was first detected in Sydney in 2007, but has since spread to regional NSW, Canberra, Victoria, and has also recently been found in Perth in Western Australia.

Adult Lace Bugs are small insects about 3 mm long with lacy wings held flat over the body.

Azalea Lace Bug

Adult Azalea Lace Bugs are cream coloured about 3 mm long by 1.5 mm wide, with lacy clear wings marked with dark patterns. Adult Azalea Lace Bugs also have an ornate lacy pattern on their head and thorax. Nymphs are spiny; they are clear when they first hatch, but gradually darken until they are black. Nymphs range in size from about 0.1 mm to 1.8 mm in size as they moult through their nymph stages (instars).

Olive Lace Bug

Adult Olive Lace Bugs are light brown, about 3 mm long by 1 mm wide with lacy wings marked with dark patterns, and long black-tipped antennae and red eyes. Early instar nymphs may be light cream or greenish yellow to pinkish orange, without spines, whereas later instar nymphs are green to greyish black and very spiky.

Macadamia Lace Bug

Adult Macadamia Lace Bugs are similar in appearance to adult Olive Lace Bugs. They are light brown, about 3 mm long by 1 mm wide with dark patterned lacy wings and long dark-tipped antennae and red eyes. Nymphs are pale, miniature versions of the adults, but without wings. Macadamia Lace Bug nymphs are not spiky like the nymphs of other lace bugs.

Sycamore Lace Bug

Adult Sycamore Lace Bugs are white in colour, about 3 mm long by 1.5 mm wide, with lacy clear wings marked with a few dark patterns. Adults also have an ornate lacy pattern on their head and thorax. Nymphs are black and white patterned with short spikes.

Lace Bugs grow through a life cycle of gradual metamorphosis – eggs, nymphs, adults. All stages of Lace Bugs are usually found on the underside of leaves of host plants, except for Macadamia Lace Bug that breeds in the florets of Macadamia trees.

Azalea Lace Bug

Female Azalea Lace Bugs lay their eggs in the midrib or other large veins of Azalea leaves. Nymphs grow through five immature stages. There may be several overlapping generations per year. Azalea Lace Bugs survive winter as eggs.

Olive Lace Bug

Female Olive Lace Bugs insert eggs into the tissue on the undersides of the leaves, usually along the midribs. Eggs hatch into nymphs, which pass through five moults before adulthood. Olive Lace Bug overwinters as eggs. There may be one to four generations per year depending on the climate.

Macadamia Lace Bug

Female Macadamia Lace Bugs lay their eggs inside the florets of Macadamia trees. The eggs hatch and pass through five moults before adulthood. When the Macadamia tree is not flowering, the bugs hibernate on the bark. The entire life cycle can be completed in as little as two weeks.

Sycamore Lace Bug

Female Sycamore Lace Bugs lay eggs on the underside of the leaves of plane trees, usually near the forks of veins. The eggs hatch and pass through five moults before adulthood. The life cycle takes about 6 weeks in summer. The bugs overwinter as adults in cracks in tree bark.

Azalea Lace Bug

• Azaleas
• Rhododendrons

Olive Lace Bug

Plants in the Oleaceae family, including:

• European Olive (Olea europaea) (for edible Olives see How to Grow Olives, and for Olive weeds see What is African and European Olive)
• Native Olives (Notalaea spp.)

Macadamia Lace Bug

• Macadamia
• Similar native plants in the Proteaceae family.

Sycamore Lace Bug

• Plane Trees (Platanus spp.), especially London plane tree.

Azalea Lace Bugs

• Adult Azalea Lace Bugs and nymphs feed on the underside of leaves, causing yellow spots on the upper surfaces of leaves. Severe infestations result in leaves having a 'bronzed' appearance. The underside of leaves may be fouled with black tar-like bug droppings. Skin casts from nymph moulting may also be present.

Olive Lace Bugs

• Adult Olive Lace Bugs and nymphs feed on the underside of olive leaves causing pin-head size yellow spotting on the upper surfaces of leaves. The underside of the leaves may be fouled with dark bug droppings. Skin casts from nymph moulting may also be present. Severe infestations may cause leaf drop, and twig and branch dieback. Fruit yield may be reduced.

Macadamia Lace Bugs

• Adult Macadamia Lace Bugs and nymphs feed in Macadamia flowers. They pierce the florets to feed on sap, causing the tips of flowers to blacken. The whole flower eventually blackens and dies.

Sycamore Lace Bugs

• Adult Sycamore Lace Bugs and nymphs feed on the underside of plane tree leaves, causing pale spotting on the upper surfaces. The underside of leaves may be fouled with black tar-like bug droppings. Skin casts from nymph moulting may also be present. The pale spotting may extend over the whole leaf in time, and leaves may look dry and wilted. Leaf drop may occur.

• Keep an eye on your plants while out in the garden doing regular jobs. Look for pin sized spots appearing on leaves.
• Check Macadamias as soon as flowering starts.
• Check bark of Plane Trees and Macadamias for overwintering adult bugs.

• Stressed plants are more susceptible to attack. Make sure your plants are fed and watered properly.
• Pick off infested leaves as soon as possible.
• Pick off infested florets on macadamia trees where practical.
• Prune off and dispose of any heavily infested shoots and branches.
• Destroy overwintering bugs on the bark of plane trees and macadamias.

• Lacewing larvae, Ladybirds, and Spiders.