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Deciduous plants in parts of United States, especially in California and New Jersey are infested severely by a type of bug called Lace bugs, which are about 1/12 to 1/8 inch in size. The name of the insect is from the physical appearance of its wings that looks like a lace. There are different breeds of Lace bugs distributed in the United States each having a different indigenous place. Some of the well known types of Lace bugs widely observed with high destructing capacity include Azalea lace bugs, Avocado Lace bugs, ash Lace bugs, photinia Lace bug, Rhododendron Lace bugs, Sycamore Lace Bugs, Coyote Bush Lace bugs and Walnut Lace bugs. From these types, it is clear that the insect is host-specific in nature. Most commonly seen breed of Lace bug in United States belongs to Tingidae family, which has the notable feature of completely destructing the shrubs' varieties. Lace bugs belonging to this family can be identified with a prominent appearance of transparent pair of wings.
The characteristic attack of Lace bugs is sucking of sap nutrients by making perforations under the surface of leaves of the plants with which the plant will lose its epidermal cells and that make the leaves dry, brown or gray in color. On later stage, the leaves get curled and finally drop from the plant. The population of Lace bugs gets multiplied in the winter season during when the female adults start laying eggs either on the fallen leaves of the deciduous plants or on the leaves of the living hosts itself. The nymphs of the insect secrete honeydew like substance over the leaves after feed, and that can also have the probability of initiating plant fungal diseases. Therefore, it is risky to leave the adult as well as the nymph population of Lace bugs as such at any instance in the cultivated land.
Identification of the bugs is necessary prior taking steps in controlling. For identification, the infested plan parts are scanned first for the presence of small whitish or light-green spots on the upper epidermal layer of leaves, secondly clarification need to be made whether it is Lace bugs or another insect causing this infestation because some species of bugs and thrips are also observed to create the same kind of attack in plants, for that the leaves have to be turned down for the monitoring the presence of Lace bugs. It is seen that around 10 Lace bugs are likely to occur under a single leaflet.
After thorough monitoring, spraying of any insecticide having a strong capacity in controlling the population has to be done. Considering Organic insecticide for application can be a wise choice. Organic insecticide, Neem oil can do the job of repelling the Lace bugs from infesting the plants. Pure Neem oil has an effective insecticidal property that can disturb the life cycle of the Lace bugs by making the plants unsuitable for feed on its spray. Alternatively, Lace bugs can be controlled by encouraging predator insects within the plant area, and it is also seen to control the population of the bugs effectively. Therefore, application of Neem oil spray can be an added advantage in this case because neem oil will have only less impact on predatory insects as predatory insects do not feed on Neem oil sprayed leaves, which helps in promoting dual effect on the population of Lace bugs.
Author: Adam Teaser - neem
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