Oh , my!Will we gardeners ever get a recess ? Over the retiring decades we have been at war with new pestis that have found their way into the state and into our gardens . A few of the late foreign incursive pests include : the tree - eating gypsy moth , the malodorous brownish marmorated stink bug , the tree - down emerald ash borer , and now the latest stowaway to bug gardeners is the potentially devastating spot lanternfly ( Lycomadelicatula ) .
Thisundeniably colorfulfour - wing insect is native to China , India , and Vietnam , and was introduce into South Korea in 2006 ; by 2009 , it was found throughout the southerly Korean Peninsula where it had become a major pest on grape vine and peach crop . How the spotted lanternfly arrived in the US is not open , but like many recent invaders , this one is an excellent stowaway , and egg masses likely arrived on a shipments of goods from Asia . The spotty lanternfly was first find in Berks County , Pennsylvania , in September 2014 . Despite local quarantine efforts to limit the movement of materials , the lanternfly range has amplify to include 13 county in southeast Pennsylvania , and into the neighboring states of New Jersey , New York , and Delaware . It was identify near Winchester , Virginia , onJanuary 10 , 2018 .
The spotted lanternfly is not a fly front but aninvasive planthopper . It belongs to a group of dirt ball known asfulgorids , part of a large family of insects called the Hemiptera , a clan that includes other sap - eating pests , includingaphids , soft scale , mealybugs , andwhiteflies . Like the aforementioned rogues , lanternflies pierce plants with soda - straw - like mouthparts , tip into vascular tissue ( bast ) , and remove sap . Both adult and the youngsters , forebode nymphs , remove with child quantity of sap from the tree as they feed . Their excess inhalation is pass from their rearward end as a sugary waste product called honeydew .
grownup lanternflies can fly , but it may be their least mobile stage . It is their egg masses that have the great potential for long aloofness locomotion . Spotted lanternfly eggs are inconspicuous , and female will lay their eggs on most any surface — trees , firewood , lumber , yard article of furniture , and vehicles . fuse that with the fact that their preferred host , ailanthus ( tree of heaven ) is an invasive itself that tends to grow in disturbed areas around parking lots , along highways and railroad track track .
It does n’t require a vast imagination to picture a railroad car , halt along an ailanthus - lined railroad track or a articulated lorry parked next to an ailanthus tree at a sleep occlusion or an out - of - town vehicle next to an a tree diagram at a football game stadium . A gravid distaff lanternfly drop down , deposit her eggs and soon the eggs are driven out to the next county or across the country .
Why the Concern
While the discern lanternfly ( SLF ) prefers the Tree of Heaven , Ailanthus altissima , for part of their life cycle , the louse feeds on a wide range of plants(more than 70 species ) — let in grapes , peaches , plums , apples , hops , cornel , maple , plane tree , black gum tree , oak , sassafras , tulip poplar , shadberry , walnut and pine tree , just to name a few found in our area .
The SLF can make extensive crop and tree wrong . Limp tree diagram offshoot have been observed curtly after an infestation . In infested areas , the adult SLF gather in masses , pass over tree diagram trunks , terrace , and the side of house . While they do n’t seize with teeth , the SLF are attracted to and land on people , moving among them , making themselves a pain to be around .
Spotted lanternfly aggregation on a backyard tree . Photo Source : Entomology Today
As the SLF sucks the phloem from trees and shrubs , it excretes with child quantity of honeydew , a gummy sweet substance which attracts , wasps , ants , bees , and other insect drawn to the odorous substance . When walking under an infested tree diagram canopy , the honeydew fall like rain .
To make maters bad , the honeydew melon is host to jet-black mould , which colonizes on surfaces , where the honeydew has been excreted . These surface turn black as the mould colony grow , give fruit such as grapes , apples , and peach useless — not to mention the added ambience this disastrous muck sum up to a terrace or deck of cards below a tree diagram infested with SLF .
The SLF is also fertile . In inhuman climates , the SLF has one life story cycle per year , but can pair and lie egg masses several times , position 30 to 50 eggs each sentence . The bollock masses will be seize to any voiceless airfoil . eggs slew have been receive on the barque of many Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree coinage , and on rocks , motor vehicles , outside furniture , the sides of menage and more . In warm mood south of the Mason- Dixon Line , the milder wintertime could give the bug yr - unit of ammunition reproduction capability and reduce winter kill .
Natural Enemies
As is the example with most invasive pests , the SLF does not have an enemy in this country to aid control its population . The splendid colors – – red , black , and white — of the spotted lanternfly bring out one of the cause why it is difficult to command by using lifelike foeman . Its chromaticity are warning colors that alert predators to the fact that the lanternfly is toxic due to poison called cytotoxic alkaloids , which it metabolizes from some of its host works . While the color of the forewing helps camouflage the lanternfly against a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree trunk , the sudden flash of its vivid hind wings , when opened , startles predators and scares them away . Some raspberry have been see vomiting after assimilate the dirt ball . Although it is also toxic to humans , the lanternfly has been used in low quantities by practitioner of traditional Chinese medicinal drug to plow consumption and bulge .
Identification
The lenient - bodied make out lanternfly ( SLF ) grownup look interchangeable to a moth or butterfly . It is or so 1 ” long and ½ ” wide at eternal rest . The forewing is gray with contraband spots and the wing peak are reticulate black blocks outlined in gray . The hind wings have contrast patches of red and disastrous with a snowy band . The pegleg and head are dark ; the abdomen is yellow with full black striation . Despite the gravid annexe , the insect does not fly very well , but jumps from plant to engraft or tree diagram to tree .
Life cycles/second
Eggs hatch in spring and early summer and then undergo four nymphal instars . unfledged stage are black with white spots , but the nymphs turn reddened just before becoming adults in July . grownup begin laying egg in September and remain through November until the onrush of winter .
Newly - pose egg masses have a grizzly mud - like covering which can take on a dry , cracked visual aspect over time . Old ball masses appear as rows of 30 - 50 brownish seed - like deposit in 4 to 7 columns on the torso , roughly an column inch long .
The Spotted Lanternfly Life Cycle in Virginia :
Source : “ blemish Lanternfly Life Cycle in Virginia ” , VCE Publication-268 NP
foretoken & Symptoms
As mentioned above , nymph and adult SLF typically gather in big numbers on host plants . They are easier to spot at dusk or night as they transmigrate up and down the torso of the plant . tree will develop crying wounds that leave a greyish or black trail along the trunk . This sap will attract other insect to feed , notably wasps and ants . In belated fall , you will be able-bodied to spot egg mountain on host Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and nearby fluent surfaces like stone , outdoor piece of furniture , vehicle , lawn mower , and complex body part .
What ask to be done now
If you see a spotty lanternfly , please report it forthwith to the local annex office or local agriculture section . Even a mistrust sighting should be reported . pick up a specimen , if possible , and place it in a ampule filled with alcoholic beverage , remark the location , and send away it off at your local Virginia Cooperative Extension Office .
Current Control Measures
The spotted lanternfly ’s power to winter , along with a wide range of host plants and want of natural aboriginal opposition will in all chance result in a rapid population growth and spread of this destructive , invasive plague .
Thanks for stopping by The Garden Shed . We look forward to your sojourn next month .
Resources :
“ Spotted Lanternfly in Virginia , ” Virginia Cooperative Extension , https://ext.vt.edu / factory farm / commercial-grade - gardening / distinguish - lanternfly.html
“ Be Prepared for the Invasive Spotted Lanternfly , Entomologists Warn,”Entomology Today , December 17 , 2017,https://entomologytoday.org/2025-05-02 / be - prepare - for - spot - lanternfly/
“ A Decline in Stink Bugs , ” Pest World , ELP .
avail FIND THE SPOTTED LANTERNFLY , LYCORMADELICATULA,”Bug of the Week , http://bugoftheweek.com / blog/2025-02-18 / help - happen - the - spotted - lanternfly - ilycorma - delicatulai
“ Lycorma delicatula(Hemiptera : Fulgoridae ): A New Invasive Pest in the United States”Journal of Integrated Pest Management , https://academic.oup.com / jipm / article/6/1/20/2936989
“ Spotted Lanternfly , ” Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication ENTO-264 NPhttps://pubs.ext.vt.edu/ENTO/ENTO-180/ENTO-180.html
“ Tree - of Heaven or Paradise Tree , ” Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management , http://blueridgeprism.org / wp - subject matter / uploads/2017/06 / Ailanthus - Fact - Sheet - VDOF-5 - 30 - 17 - w - vdof - Box - FINAL.pdf
“ Update on Spotted Lanternfly Control Options , ” Penn State Extension , https://extension.psu.edu / update - on - spotted - lanternfly - control - alternative
“ USDA declares war on spotted lanternfly , will spend $ 17.5M,”The Morning Call , http://www.mcall.com / news / break / mc - nws - spotted - lanternfly - regulator - budget-20180207 - story.html
“ Recently spotted lanternfly has potential for devastation,”The Daily Progress , http://www.dailyprogress.com / newsworthiness / local / latterly - spotted - lanternfly - has - potential - for - devastation / article_fa28d794 - 09ff-11e8 - 8dfc-735cd0b3fa81.html
“ Spotted Lanternfly , ” USDA , Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service , https://www.aphis.usda.gov / aphis / resources / plague - disease / thirsty - pests / the - threat / spot - lanternfly / spotted - lanternfly?utm_keyword=/the - menace / make out - lanternfly.php
“ Spotted Lanternfly , ” Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture , http://www.agriculture.pa.gov / plants_land_water / plantindustry / entomology / spotted_lanternfly / Page / default.aspx
“ Spotted Lanternfly , ” Pest Alert , USDA , https://www.aphis.usda.gov / publications / plant_health/2014 / alert_spotted_lanternfly.pdf
“ What to do if you find out a Spotted Lanternfly , ” Penn State Extensionhttps://extension.psu.edu/what-to-do-if-you-find-spotted-lanternfly
“ Government Affairs : Is the Spotted Lanternfly a menace to Outdoor Living,”Landscape Management , http://landscapemanagement.net / government - affair - is - the - spotted - lanternfly - a - threat - to - outdoor - living/
