Treat when leaves first open with Insecticidal Soap, Dursban, Malathion, Sevin, or Tempo. The tarnished plant bug overwinters as an adult and becomes active when leaves first begin to form. This insect feeds on weeds, vegetables, fruit, flowers, shrubs, and trees. There are several generations each year. Symptoms produced vary among the different hosts.
Nymphs are spiny and wingless.
Feeding results in spotted leaves and dark, varnish-like excrement on the under sides. With broadleaved evergreens it is doubly important to prevent damage because the foliage will retain the ugly injury and be less functional for more than one year. Most lacebugs spend the winter as eggs that hatch in early spring. There may be several generations during a season. With multi-generation species, numbers early in the season are so small that feeding symptoms may not be noticed.