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Sticker of Sycamore lace bug
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Sycamore lace bug

Corythucha ciliata
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The sycamore lace bug is a tiny milky-white bug with wings that look like delicate lace. It lives under the leaves of plane and sycamore trees and sucks their sap. When there are lots of them, the leaves get pale speckles and fall off early.

Lives in
First from North America, now also in much of Europe and as far as Uzbekistan, on plane trees in towns
Length
3.2 to 3.7 mm (0.13 to 0.15 in)
Top speed
about 0.11 km/h (0.07 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite or sting
It sometimes lands on people and gives a small bite, and a few people get itchy skin from it. It is not dangerous.
What does it eat?
It pokes its mouth into the underside of plane and sycamore leaves and drinks the sap. The young ones do the same.
For real!Photo of Sycamore lace bug
Picture by Norbert Marwan. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Sycamore lace bug about 3.7 mm long (0.15 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 33 seconds

How big is Sycamore lace bug compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its babies look nothing like the grown-ups. They are black, flat and prickly.

2

It spends the winter as a grown-up hiding under flakes of bark and can survive cold down to minus 24 degrees.

3

In Europe it was first found in 1964 in Padua, Italy, and it has spread a long way since then.

4

In summer, it takes about 44 days to grow from egg to grown-up.

5

You can spot where it lives by the tiny black droppings and old baby skins stuck under the leaves.

you asked

Most asked questions about Sycamore lace bug

?Does the sycamore lace bug bite?

Sometimes it lands on people and bites. It may cause itchy skin, but it is not dangerous.

?How big is the sycamore lace bug?

It is only about 3 to 4 millimetres long.

?Why do plane tree leaves get pale spots?

Often because lace bugs are sucking sap from under the leaves.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Corythucha ciliata
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Tingidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Tingidae
Lives on
North America, Europe, Asia
Also known as
Plane lace bug

Where the facts come from

  1. Corythucha ciliata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Norbert Marwan. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows