Pest of the Month February 2011 – Cotton Lace Bug

  • Hosts:  Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Annonaceae, Solanaceae Families – soursop, castor bean, orchid tree, awikiwiki, coral tree (E. crista-galli), Indian coral tree, wiliwili, red hibiscus, ulu, paper mullberry, white sapote, a’e (soapberry), akia, royal palm, kapok, croton, guava, angel’s trumpet
  • Distribution: Southern U.S., Mexico to Ecuador, West Indies, and Hawaii.
  • Symptoms:  Leaf stippling to yellowing to bleaching
  • Control:  Carbaryl (Sevin) or malathion.

Sources:

Cotton Lace Bug, Corythucha gossypii, in Florida (Hemiptera: Tingidae), by F.W. Mead, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Plant Industry, Entomology Circular No. 324, November 1989.

First Records of Corythucha gossypii (Hemiptera: Tingidae) in Hawaii, Including Notes on Host Plants, by Laura T. Miller and Walter T. Nagamine, Proceedings of Hawaiian Entomological Society (2005) 37:85-88.

Cotton Lace Bug on Bauhinia x blakeana, Pukalani, Maui. Photo by Forest and Kim Starr Image# 030702-0104

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cotton lace bug nymphs on bean leaf. Photo by Carol Kwan.