Corythucha ciliata
| Corythucha ciliata | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Family: | Tingidae |
| Genus: | Corythucha |
| Species: | C. ciliata |
| Binomial name | |
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Corythucha ciliata (Say, 1832) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Corythucha ciliata, the sycamore lace bug, is a species of lace bug in the family Tingidae that is associated with sycamore trees.
It originates in the New World, but has been introduced and has spread in Europe. It is a small, whitish insect and feeds on the underside of the leaves, sucking sap.
The adult sycamore lace bug is milky white in colour and between 3.2 and 3.7 mm (0.13 and 0.15 in) in length. It is similar in appearance to the cotton lace bug (Corythucha gossypii) and the Florida oak lace bug (Corythucha floridana), but lacks the brown crescent-shaped band on the carina (ridge on the body-wall) of the former and is larger than the latter. The only brown colour is a small spot on the protuberance on each elytron (wing-case). The nymphs are oval in shape, dorso-ventrally flattened, black and prickly. This lace bug can most easily be distinguished from other species by its presence on sycamore.
C. ciliata is native to North America and is found where its host trees grow. The main host is the American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) but it is sometimes found on other species of Platanus, and it has been recorded on Broussonetia papyrifera, Carya ovata, Chamaedaphne sp., Fraxinus sp., Quercus laurifolia and Liquidambar styraciflua.
In Europe, C. ciliata was first observed in 1964 in Padova, Italy, and has since spread throughout Southern and Central Europe, infesting the European sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus). Although it does not of itself kill trees, in Central Europe it is often found in association with two plant-pathogenic fungi which can kill trees, Apiognomonia veneta and , leading to the hypothesis that it may act as a vector for these fungi.
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Wikipedia