Pear Lace Bug

(Stephanitis pyri), an insect of the family Tingitidae, a pest chiefly of apple trees, then pear, and sometimes amygdalaceous trees. The body reaches 4 mm in length and is black; the wing cases are white and transparent. The pear lace bug is found in Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa; in the USSR it is found in the European part, in the Caucasus, and in Middle Asia. There are one or two generations per year. Adult lace bugs hibernate in bark chinks, under fallen leaves, and similar places. After fruit trees flower, the females lay eggs (up to 460) in the leaf tissues. The larvae and adult lace bugs suck the juices from the underside of the leaves, decolorizing them and contaminating them with sticky black excreta. The leaves dry out, and the growth of shoots ceases. Control measures call for the treatment of trees with insecticides.