Dave, thanks as always for your help! :D You're right - I've looked up pictures of lacewing eggs and these definitely fit the bill. I'll wipe them off for now.

I didn't notice any tiny mites on the bottom side of the leaves, whether young or old. Whew. So, I'm guessing this is a regular spider's web, as it was last time I saw a web on this tree. Are spiders harmful? Looking around on the forum, people seem to say they're not a problem. I'd still want to take it off the leaf before bringing it in just in case.

Not a problem.

If it were actual sprinters, they too wouldn't harm the tree and would eat anything that may.

I'd just give it a thorough hose down and you should be fine.

I spray all of my plants multiple times with Bayer 3 in 1 insect disease and mite control before I bring them back inside. Last year I battled spider mites all winter. With a smaller plant they're not hard to eradicate with isopropyl alcohol mixed with water, but it was a pain on a tree the size of mine. So far, with the Bayer 3 in 1, I haven't had any issues.

Spder mites like young tender leaves best. You'd find them there, usually on the underside if you had them. The tree would also have deformed young leaves and they'll also be shed from the tree before maturing.

It took me a while last year to figure out why there would be dehydrated looking young leaves all over the floor near my tree. Most kept telling me it was cultural and it was driving me crazy not being able to figure it out at the time.

Spiders are entirely harmless to plants!! And unless you have incredibly sharp eyesight, you are not going to see an actual spider mite (a very different creature from any spider). They are almost microscopic in size. The best way to see a spider mite is to shake a suspected plant or plant part over a sheet of white paper - the mites will show up as tiny little pinpricks or specks of dust.. And spider mite webbing is very fine and typically tucked in between branches, stems and leaf petioles unless a severe infestation. You would also see stippling or dotting of the foliage as well.

As far as I can see, your plant looks in very good shape :-) Just be prepared for major leaf drop when you bring it indoors.

If you give it as much light as possible and it seems it's currently in partial shade, I wouldn't say you should expect major leaf abscission.

Mine came from direct sun to indoors. Sure, it lost some leaves and I also thinned it out slightly, but I wouldn't say major leaf drop occurred. Just my 2 cents.

I agree spider mites are very hard to see. But if you know exactly what you're looking for, you can see them with the naked eye.

Red spider mites - Tetranychus urticae, the most common spidermite - is "extremely small, barely visible with the naked eye as reddish or greenish spots on leaves and stems; the adult females measure about 0.4 mm long."

Just for reference sake.........that's about the size of a grain of salt!

well, I'll just be praying I don't ever get an infestation of spider mites since they're so difficult to see (and get rid of)! I'll clean the leaves very well before bringing it inside just in case.

My ficus has been in partial shade since repotting but it has still grown very well. I'm hoping the fact that it isn't used to full sun all day will mitigate some of the culture shock of bringing it inside. I'll let y'all know how it does once it's inside!

Well, I'd like to confirm spider mites are really hard to see, and I have greay eyesight. After my croton has been shedding leaves like crazy, I finnaly got to look at a bare stem and saw a few mites. If in doubt, I'd spray it a bit with insecticide or alcohol and water. Better now than after it lost half it's leaves (this is a lesson I learned the hard way).