(Hemiptera: Tingidae)
Issue No. 324
F. W. Mead
November, 1989
Introduction
The cotton lace bug, Corythucha gossypii (Fabricius), is a Neotropical pest that barely ranges into the southern United States. It is a common bug in southern Florida where it feeds on a wide variety of ornamentals and cultivated crops and can cause economic damage if not controlled. Based on records in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), the favorite host plants in Florida are castor bean, Ricinus communis, (Fig. 1); orchid trees, Bauhinia spp.; hibiscus, Hibiscus spp.; and Jamaica dogwood, Piscidia piscipula.