Subject: Mystery bug
Location: North Shore, Maui, Hawaii
February 20, 2016 6:54 pm
Aloha folks, You guys were so helpful the last time that I thought I’d give it another go.
I found this guy on the underside of a Cannabis sativa fan leaf (legally grown). I’m not sure if the black spots surround it are fecal matter, but some of the black spots on the bug almost looked like babies. Any help is much appreciated.
Signature: Greg Hansen
Dear Greg,
This is an immature True Bug, and nymphs can be very difficult to correctly identify. Our initial guess is that this appears to be an immature Lace Bug in the family Tingidae. According to BugGuide, they: “Feed mainly on leaves of trees and shrubs, causing yellow spotting and sometimes browning and death of the leaves.” Beetles in the Bush has some nice images of immature Lace Bugs. Aloha Arborist Association has a similar looking image of the Cotton Lace Bug, with a list of plant family hosts, but Cannabaceae is not listed. Perhaps your Lace Bug is a different species, or perhaps the information on plant host families is incomplete.
Thank you so much Daniel! You are a saint! I really appreciate your help and expertise.
Greg
I’m the person wrote Aloha Arborist Association’s post on Cotton Lace Bug and I thought I’d let you know that our host list is incomplete. We generally focus on ornamental woody plants (shrubs, trees) and palms. Cannabis is herbaceous and would probably be more of an agricultural crop.