Help Eradicate the Spotted Lantern Fly!
Identify Egg Masses and Make Your Own Traps
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Edited from the NY Times: The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), an invasive pest from Asia, arrived in the U.S. seven years ago and in New York City last year. The insects zealously feed on the sap of more than 70 plant species, leaving them susceptible to disease and destruction from other natural antagonists, threatening to set back the fight against climate change.
They immediately landed on the Most Wanted list of local environmentalists, who have brought a General Patton-ish energy to the project of expunging it. There are no natural predators that go after them and no organic pesticides to shut down their operation, so if you see one, “squish it,” said Ronnit Bendavid-Val, the director of horticulture at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, “that’s the message.” In Pennsylvania, the issue is taken so seriously that the state issued a Spotted Lanternfly Order of Quarantine and Treatment, which imposes fines and even potential criminal penalties on anyone who intentionally moves the bug, at any stage of its life, from one sort of location to another via “recreational vehicles, tractors, mowers, grills” as well as “tarps, mobile homes, tile, stone, deck boards” or “fire pits.” |
Destroy the Egg MassesLast fall, spotted lantern flies laid egg masses in trees.
An egg mass can contain 35 to 50 eggs! If you see an egg mass like the one in this photograph, scrape it off with a firm object. |
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Nymph StageThe nymphs progress into adults in late June and July.
You can create a DIY spotted lanternfly trap to install on your trees by following the instructions in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5AW30VG1o0 |
This is how you make a spotted lantern fly trap - it's easy!
