By Abigael T. Sidi
How many of these beautiful creatures have you seen lately? Oh, and how many have you… killed?
Spotted lanternflies arrived in Pennsylvania in 2014, and have since spread to the entire east coast, establishing themselves as an invasive species. It was July, 2020, when New York was introduced to the gray, red, and black-spotted plant hoppers, and their growing number each year indicates they like it here. The feeling of nuisance is starting to creep in.
Whether you’re walking through Central or Riverside Parks, or on a side street or avenue, you’re likely to see one of these — or maybe 10, or maybe more. Although they’re lovely to look at, spotted lanternflies are not welcome here.
“The main threat is that they like to eat a lot of different types of crops, including trees,” Dr. Jessica Ware, Ph.D., associate curator in the American Museum of Natural History’s division of invertebrate zoology told West Side Rag. “They drink plant sap…their [waste] is sugary and sweet…and can cause mold to grow, which could lead to crop losses or damage.”
And that’s not all. “Invasive species are new members of a community and can negatively impact native species,” Dr. Ware said. “Native species serve a purpose in the environment, and need to be protected.”
The main reason spotted lanternflies are so threatening, Dr. Ware said, is their rate of population growth. “Being able to feed on a lot of different host plants and having few natural enemies…means their numbers can grow quickly,” she said. “Another thing that [works in their favor] is that they are distasteful and have what is called ‘warning coloration,’ a lot of vertebrate predators avoid them.”
Their eggs are also extremely hard to distinguish. “They look like dried-up, grayish-colored chewing gum, so a lot of people overlook them.” In an interview with USA Today, Dr. George Hamilton, chair of entomology at Rutgers University, compared the bugs to “very good hitchhikers”, saying they excel at going unnoticed and can lay their eggs pretty much everywhere, including packages and cars, thus facilitating their spread within their newly conquered territory.
Unfortunately for us, the Upper West Side is very vulnerable to spotted lanternflies — with its lush parks, our neighborhood provides a lot of food for the species, and thus, a perfect habitat for them to hang out in. “It’s important for people to be hypervigilant and do their best to scrape off and destroy the eggs,” Dr. Ware said.
Greater-scale measures are in the works, including research on spotted-lanternfly control through parasitoids (parasites that eventually kill their hosts), insecticides, and biological preventatives, like bacteria and viruses.
Until these are in use, says the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, unequivocally, “You should kill any spotted lanternfly you see by stepping on or crushing it.”
Maybe you can publish a photograph of the eggs so we know what to look for?
This story has pictures of eggs and a video on how to destroy them: https://www.silive.com/news/2022/11/spotted-lanternfly-is-now-laying-eggs-on-staten-island-heres-how-to-destroy-them-before-they-hatch.html
How did we do last year? Are humans winning or losing the battle to get rid of the spotted lantern fly in our area?
way more this year than last
Pretty sure we’re losing, unfortunately.
The lantern flies are too quick for me to catch, but I’d be happy to scrape up the eggs—how about a good photo of the egg clumps?
I know!!!
If humans did not exist, this is how nature works, and the lantern flies would simply “do what they do” and whatever they do would be within nature’s ultimate balance. I, for one, will not put myself in the position of interrupting that balance.
That is a very simplistic view, but it fails to take into account how humans are upsetting the balance of nature. All these responsive actions we take, or have to take, are not responding to the balance of nature but the imbalance humanity causes. We are not part of the natural balance, but we upset it greatly.
Exactly. Humans are the MOST invasive species on Earth, So why should these insects have to perish?
The sound of reason, Ian. Just like we invade the oceans and blame the sea-life.
If humans didn’t exist the latter flies wouldn’t have been stowaways on a ship from China. Our environment lacks natural predators of lantern flies so we humans must do that job since we humans caused the problem. Left alone they will decimate tres.
Can we do the same with scooters, dirt bikes and mopeds?
I have a few pics here: The young and mature lantern flies look totally different. They go through 3 or 4 distinct stages.
Little black bugs with red dots. Then small red bugs with black dots. Then the moth stage with the bright red underwings. They don’t fly great distances. They sort of take a big hop. And they’ll hop right onto you.
They eat sweet plants and leaves. If you have a fruit tree it’s at danger of being sucked drug and injected with a kind of poison that will kill it. They lay their eggs on the bark of most trees.
When they done laying the eggs they cover them with a substance that looks like putty – tan or medium brown putty. And as they hatch the next year they’ll feed on the tree and kill it too.
And they have no natural preditors. They came into the country from Asia with eggs on saplings and plants. And they moved up the east coast rapidly. Swat them, step on them, kill them. They are destroying forests and desimating fruit trees and vegetable plants in your garden.
I wanted to upload pics of their stages and the egg sacks looking like putty but I can’t find a link to upload pics.
The smallest lanternflies I’ve seen are about 1/4″ long… black with WHITE DOTS… the red doesn’t appear till later…
The order here is to kill, kill and kill some more.
Quite different from the peaceful “live and let live”.
But – kill we must and I have done away already with entire families of these unwelcome new neighbors.
Ah I tried to step on/kill one today and three times it flew out from under my foot just in time and hid under a car! It was weird the critter really ran for it’s life! I tried hard though…
See my suggestions. Start with slowly moving your heel above the insect, so when it darts or flies forward, you have a better chance of getting some part of your foot on it. Then drag foot backward in case it’s alive under your instep.
They’re really kind of cute and I don’t want to kill them but I do usually. They squish a lot.
My kid can’t stand the idea of killing anything; would prefer that I not even kill a mosquito. But those little feet crush any lanternfly spotted.
I saw a bee kill one the other day outsise Riverside park!
The nymphs – not many left at that stage, most are adults now – leap forward very feet very quickly. The adults fly forward very quickly.
I have found the best way of stepping on them:
slowly move your heel over the insect, a little more than one inch from the ground
bring your foot down as fast as you can. if the insect tries to leap forward, you have a better chance of nailing it with the front of your shoe if you’ve started with your heel over the insect.
After stepping down, if you don’t see it dart away, drag your foot back in case it’s still alive under the arch of your foot.
If you do see it dart away, try again. They sometimes seem to get tired after a few escapes in quick succession.
If it darts or flies into grass, I’ve found it’s easier to step on it, not sure why. The grass impairs its vision?
A squirt bottle filled with water and a little dishwashing liquid kills them. Please pass the word on! It takes several squirts but it works and may be easier than stomping them for some people.
I tried to destroy one today but they are hard to positively identify. As I was stomping on it, someone yelled, “hey buddy, that’s an ebike”. Oooops.
I feel no shame or remorse in reporting that I kill each and every lantern fly I come into contact with…if at all possible. And I don’t mind looking weird running after them when one or two stomps don’t work. They seem to like the roughly hewn granite facing on the first floor of my apartment building. So easy to walk up and just smash them with the side of my closed fist. I just wish someone would invent a telescoping and very powerful hand held vacuum cleaner so I could reach above the 6 foot mark and suck them to their deaths.
That is at the top of my wish list!! I have tried vavuuming them, when they were much smaller: it’s very difficult, they are so fast to move. It does a good job of sucking holes into all the grape leaves, though.
Apparently milkweed is toxic to lanternflies, not to mention important to monarchs. Can we have more milkweed in parks?
Milkweed toxicity to lanternflies seems to be a myth, unfortunately. (On the other hand, milkweed is great for monarch butterflies!)
Here’s some good information::
https://www.psu.edu/news/impact/story/spotted-lanternfly-experts-debunk-myths-about-prodigious-pestilent-pest/
Myth: Milkweed is toxic to spotted lanternfly.
According to Penn State Extension educators, milkweed leaves contain cardiac glycosides. These compounds affect heart function, making them toxic to most species of birds and mammals, so these predators avoid them. However, there is no science currently showing that milkweed is poisonous to the spotted lanternfly, Leach said.
On a positive note, milkweed is the sole host plant of the monarch butterfly. By planting milkweed species native to their region, property owners can support this important pollinator. But they should not expect to milk any benefit related to the spotted lanternfly.
Quoted from: https://www.psu.edu/news/impact/story/spotted-lanternfly-experts-debunk-myths-about-prodigious-pestilent-pest/
I live in Queens,in a small frame house with one very large grapevine that was planted by my father over 60 years ago. It has survived “black rot” & years of theft… the lanternflies are the worst. It takes a lot of time…about 4 hours of spraying with neem oil every 4-7 days! are!
IF, LIKE ME, you are uncomfortable with the idea of squishing a large bug… I get it!
Here is another way to do it:
Using an empty beverage bottle, slowly place the opening right in front of the bug’s head… it should jump right in.
It’s easier if the bottle opening is larger than what is on a typical bottle.
I’ve been using a 10 oz juice bottle that has an opening that is about 1 1/4″ in diameter)
Each time I catch one, I put the lid on and shake the bottle… that has worked to disable the insect so it doesn’t fly out.
Good Luck… and gratitude on behalf of everyone who enjoys grapes… wine…
jam…
They’re speedy critters and hard to stomp on, but a few squirts of vinegar in a spray bottle will do the trick.