Gorse Lacebug

Gorse Lacebug - Dictyonota strichnocera

Description

Length 3.5 to 4.0 mm. Dictyonota species and Kalama tricornis have two rows of meshes at the lateral edges of the forewings and uniformly wide antennae (the 3rd segment is as thick as or thicker than the 4th). In D. strichnocera the antennae are entirely black and lack long hairs.

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Can be identified by external structure at 5-10X magnification.

Habitat

On Gorse, although it also occurs on Broom, leading to possible confusion with D. fuliginosa.

When to see it

Adult: June-October.

Life History

The species overwinters as eggs, nymphs becoming adult in the summer, when mating and egg-laying takes place.

UK Status

Fairly common and widespread in the UK.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records