For months, state agriculture experts have been asking us to kill those pesky spotted lanternflies.
Now, they want you to watch out for their eggs.
The spotted lanternfly is a threat to our local trees and fruit crops.
When they feed, they excrete a substance that encourages black mold growth on plants
So experts have been working hard to squash the population, literally.
That's why Shannon Powers from the PA Department of Agriculture, says we need to be on the lookout for egg sacks that look like wood putty or dried, used chewing gum.
“Every lantern fly that you kill now is 60 lanternflies that won’t hatch in the spring, and every egg mass that you scrape is also somewhere between 30 and 60 eggs that won’t hatch in the spring, so scrape that protective coating off and squish the eggs that are underneath,” said Powers.
The invasive insects lay their eggs on hard surfaces including trees, outdoor furniture, vehicles, stones and more.
Powers adds that the lanternflies only live through one season
As it gets colder, the adult lanternflies will die off, but not before they lay countless eggs everywhere.