The andromeda lace bug is believed to have been accidentally introduced into the United States from Japan in 1945. It is a serious pest of Japanese Andromeda, Pierisjaponica . The andromeda lace bug overwinters as an egg on the undersides of the lower leaves of the plant. The eggs begin hatching in early to mid-May. It takes about a month for the nymphs to become adults.
Adults lay eggs along the midrib on the underside of the leaves.
The andromeda lace bugs can have four or five generations a year in Connecticut. Injury Lace bugs feed by sucking juice from plant leaves, extracting the protein they need and excreting the excess juice as honeydew. The most common symptom of feeding is the stippled and mottled yellowish foliage. In heavy infestations, black sooty mold, a nonparasitic fungus, may develop on the honeydew. If leaves become covered with sooty mold, photosynthesis production is reduced, thereby reducing the production of carbohydrates needed by the plant.