SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Burlington County is looking for volunteers this winter to help identify and destroy the eggs of spotted lanternflies, an invasive insect that has been wreaking havoc on trees and vegetation in the region.
Spotted lanternflies, originally from Asia, lay their eggs in September and nymphs hatch in May.
“During the winter months when nature is sort of sleeping, the egg masses are building,” said Burlington County Commissioner Allison Eckel, who serves as the liaison to the Parks and Resource Conservation departments.
“So now is a great time to get out and destroy them before the eggs hatch and before the flies wake up.”
The county is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to hold egg-scraping sessions at various parks. Volunteers are needed to scrape them off of surfaces and destroy them.
“They are sticky masses,” Eckel described. “They look like a smear of mud or pressed and dried bubble gum, so to speak, on the trunks of branches of the plants.”
The effort is an attempt to control impending damage from the non-native insect, which has an appetite for trees, plants and crops.
The scraping sessions will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on:
• Jan. 18 at Amico Island Park in Delran
• Feb. 1 at Boundary Creek Park in Moorestown
• Feb. 15 at the Burlington County Agricultural Center in Moorestown
Scraping tools will be provided. Participants are encouraged to register in advance so organizers can supply enough tools.
Volunteers can register online.
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