For the ninth year in a row, the lanternflies are coming, and it’s our duty to “eliminate” them.
That’s the recommendation from government experts who say the species is incredibly invasive and has now spread to 14 different states since its first appearance in the U.S. in 2014.
The insect was first spotted in Pennsylvania, and it is believed to have stowed away in shipping containers that carried it from China.
The spotted lanternfly, distinctively colored in red, black or brown with spots, has no indigenous predators in America, which is how it has been able to spread its wings across such a wide area.
Some have started to appear already but even more are already laid as eggs and just waiting to be unleashed.
“As it gets warmer, we're going to start seeing a massive hatch,” Matthew Travis, National Policy Manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told USA TODAY.
Officials say that if you spot a spotted lanternfly, terminate it on sight, advising, “Kill it, squash it, smash it, just get rid of it.”
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