Home News Spotted Lanterfly is Heading to Ohio, and Thats Not a Good Thing

Spotted Lanterfly is Heading to Ohio, and Thats Not a Good Thing

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) technicians are working with state and local partners; businesses and residents to stop the spread of the spotted lanternfly* a destructive insect that feeds on a wide range of fruit, ornamental, and hardwood trees, including grapes, apples, walnut, and oak; a serious threat to the United States' agriculture and natural resources, such as in Reading, Pennsylvania, on August 30, 2018. The pest damages plants as it sucks sap from branches, stems, and tree trunks. The repeated feedings leave the tree bark with dark scars. Spotted lanternfly also excretes a sticky fluid, which promotes mold growth and further weakens plants and puts our agriculture and forests at risk. Native to Asia, the spotted lanternfly has no natural enemies in North America. it's free to multiply and ravage orchards, vineyards, and wooded areas. The invasive insect was first detected in the United States in Pennsylvania in 2014, and has now spread to several states, by people who accidentally move infested material or items containing egg masses. Most states are at risk of the pest. USDA and our state and local partners are working hard to stop the spread of this invasive pest. Look for signs of spotted lanternfly. Inspect your trees and plants for young spotted lanternfly, adults, and egg masses. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung. *Adult spotted lanternflies are approximately 1 inch long and one-half inch wide, and they have large and visually striking wings. Their forewings are light brown with black spots at the front and a speckled band at the rear. Their hind wings are scarlet with black spots at the front and white and black bars at the rear. Their abdomen is yellow with black bars. Nymphs in their early stages of development appear black with white spots and turn to a red phase before becoming adults. Egg masses are yellowish-brown in color, covered with a gray, w

OHIO – If you see a lanterfly in Pennsylvania the agriculture department wants you to, “Kill it! Squash it, smash it…just get rid of it.”


Why? These bugs lay around 30-50 eggs each in the fall and they are taking over counties in Pennsylvania.

More Why? The Spotted Lanternfly is a invasive species from planthopper native to China, India, Vietnam. It was first discovered in Pennsylvania in Berks County and has spread to other counties in the southeast portion of the Commonwealth. This insect has the potential to greatly impact agricultural crops such as grapes, hops, and hardwoods. It is also reducing the quality of life for people living in heavily infested areas. Lanternflies decimate crops including almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, peaches, grapes and hops as well as trees such as oak, walnut and poplar, among others, according to USDA. They destroy plants and trees by feeding on the sap.

“But it doesn’t actually use all that sap. It has to get rid of it so it shoots it out as honeydew. It excretes it. They look like little super soakers. Honeydew is very sticky and it coats everything. It coats leaves and blocks photosynthesis and attracts mold that then damages the plant or the tree,” said Shannon Powers, a press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. “It’s just a mess for property owners.”

Pennsylvania is currently spraying and trying to control the spread but currently they are reporting 14 counties are invested and spreading. Whats worse is the Ohio, Indiana and Illinois are the perfect climates for these insects to take ahold and breed more.

The only hope that we will in the next several years start seeing the invading bug is if Pennsylvania figures out how to control them. The State is already working on ways to give addition control even possibilities of releasing other insects that prey on the lantern files, according to Pennsylvania’s natural resources.

In their adult state, spotted lanternflies are about an inch long and have white and red wings with black spots.