PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Time to dig those bug-stomping shoes out from the back of the closet with the spring jackets! The dreaded spotted lanternfly is predicted to mass an ever-larger invading force this year, and there are ways to get ahead of it right now.
Native to China and first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the pretty predator feeds on a broad range of plants. “They could be in your backyard, the parking lot at the local grocery store, or your neighborhood park, wherever they have a food source,” says Julie Bare, senior estate gardener at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Meadowbrook Farm.
“Their host plant of choice is a tree called Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), they prefer to eat and lay their eggs on this species. However, they have been found on over 70 different plant species such as maple, birch, walnut, fruit and ornamental trees. Tree-of-Heaven itself is a fast growing, prolific, and invasive species that can be found all over. It grows in disturbed areas, such as along roadsides and railroads.”
Your country needs you… to join the squashing.
"The spotted lanternfly is more than a pest in the literal sense," state Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said in a news release. “It’s wreaking havoc for home and business owners, kids who just want to play outside, Pennsylvania agriculture and the economy of the state we all call home.
"Whether you think it's your job or not, we need every Pennsylvanian to keep their eyes peeled for signs of this bad bug – to scrape every egg mass, squash every bug, and report every sighting. We need to unite in our hatred for this pest for our common love: Pennsylvania."
Spotted lanternfly (SLF) nymphs start hatching in April, so now’s the time to search and destroy the eggs. “If you go outside right now you can see egg masses on a number of surfaces - trees, outdoor equipment, metal, picnic tables, benches, decks, etc.,” says Bare.
“The egg masses are a brown-grey color, look like dried mud, and they are about 1.5 inches long. Each egg mass contains 30-50 eggs, so destroying egg masses is a great way to fight back!”
Pro tip: do not douse them in insecticide. You’d likely be dousing yourself too and poisoning the immediate environment with the chemicals.
But you have all the weaponry you need right now to create a portable SLF kit: a plastic bag, hand sanitizer, and something to scrape the egg mass.
“When you see a spotted lanternfly egg mass, put a little hand sanitizer in the bag and scrape the egg mass into the bag,” Bare explains. “The alcohol in the hand sanitizer will kill the eggs. The trees will thank you! You can also learn to identify their host plant, Tree-of-Heaven, and remove these from your yard or property if you have them.”
It’s also a great time to create a “trap tree” for the young pests, according to Bare, by putting a sticky band around the trunk of a tree. “The insects will get stuck to the band as they try to move up the tree to feed. You’ll want to select a tree that will be attractive to the SLF.”
She advises a wall of chicken wire around the sticky band, as it will not spark joy to find you’ve caught a hapless sparrow or chipmunk on it.
Eight counties have been added to the state’s spotted lanternfly quarantine zone, bringing the total to 34. The invasive planthopper has spread to New Jersey as well, where it will extend its sap-sucking rampage, and where students can actually get community service hours for scraping egg masses.
The quarantine designation basically means this: If you run a business in the quarantine zone or travel to and from the quarantine zone for work, get a permit. It involves taking a brief online course to learn how to ID the insect throughout its miserable lifecycle, and how to inspect vehicles and cargo to prevent lanternfly hitchhikers.