Spotted Lantern Fly

[NCL4701]

I’m sure some of you in Pennsylvania and some other northeastern U.S. areas have been dealing with these for several years. I’ve seen various reports from various state ag agencies on how impactful they are. Seems like the initial reports were quite concerning with more recent longer term studies being much less dire.

The control measures I’ve seen appear to be focused on controlling them on one to four trees in a residential yard, which is simply inapplicable to my situation.

Yes, I’m reporting to NC Ag via their reporting website, but haven’t heard back from them and don’t know if I will as it appears they already know about a small population in our area.

I’ll also call our County Forester when we get back in town later this week since we’re in the forestry program.

While I’m waiting to hear from local gov’t expert types, just wondering from those with experience if these things are an apocalyptic plague, a minor irritant, or something in between.

And yes, I’m sure what it was. Not like there’s anything similar in this area. But here’s a pic anyway.

 

[ZTMAN]

We had them in south central Pa last year. They seem to like maple trees. We had a bunch of them on our trees, but I see no long term damage.
Some people put lantern fly sticky tape around their tree trunks, but when birds got caught in the tape, some people abandoned the use.
IMO, they were just annoying, and I do not see any damage they caused.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Very pretty. However it is another invasive species from Asia.

 

[chim]

Huge fuss here in SE PA 3 or 4 years ago. I was designated the Spotted Lantern Fly person at our company. The Commonwealth had all sorts of hoops we were supposed to jump through. They included inspecting all trucks, pallets, loads of any kind before any trips. Vehicles had to have windows closed while parked. When I told our president what was expected ( we had around 100 vehicles) he said f***it.

A big part of the "control" was to squash the SLF's when you saw them. Ridiculous stuff. Haven't seen any for a year or two.

 

[NCL4701]

Huge fuss here in SE PA 3 or 4 years ago. I was designated the Spotted Lantern Fly person at our company. The Commonwealth had all sorts of hoops we were supposed to jump through. They included inspecting all trucks, pallets, loads of any kind before any trips. Vehicles had to have windows closed while parked. When I told our president what was expected ( we had around 100 vehicles) he said f***it.

A big part of the "control" was to squash the SLF's when you saw them. Ridiculous stuff. Haven't seen any for a year or two.

Thanks.

I read some about that. Businesses in the quarantine area getting SLF licenses, a pdf checklist for residents to do stuff like check vehicle wheel wells and physically crush any eggs, nymphs, or adults before leaving the quarantined counties. Thought WTF and briefly considered deleting photos and feeding the one specimen I have to our cat (he likes the occasional bug).

Most recent study I saw in my brief research on my phone before my wife woke up was a study from Penn State saying it’s problematic for grape vines, ailanthus trees, and black walnut saplings under 2 years old. If that’s true, I personally don’t care one way or another about these things.

I didn’t see anything from NC Ag about quarantine measures here. I understand it’s likely very important to them as they’ve been pushing wine grape production and wineries for quite a few years with much success. So I’ll report it and let them do what needs doing. Their website says they have been aware of a small population on the Forsyth/Guilford County border since 2022. I live on that border but had no clue they were in our area already.

So far I’ve seen a total of 1. Good to hear from those with experience it isn’t that big of a deal.

 

[mcfarmall]

Problematic for Ailanthus?? That's like being upset about a bug that devours crabgrass or ground ivy. The world would be a better place if every ailanthus tree disappeared. Talk about an invasive species!!

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Very pretty. However it is another invasive species from Asia.

I hope they will eat the wood boring bees.

 

[RCW]

SLF was predicted to be a major problem. I recall the grape and possible maple issues.

After what I’ve seen with EAB and ash trees, I don’t discount any of these invasive species.

There’s a lot of ash being harvested to either salvage dead trees or to a lesser extent beat the EAB for live trees. Not much ash will survive in the near term.

Not sure how much ash will survive the long term either. Was a significant component of the North American hardwood market.

They all have the potential to be really bad.

 

[lynnmor]

I'm in SE PA near the Susquehanna river, the first SLF's I saw was at my dentist on the other side of the river a few years ago and reported it before going in the office. Turns out that the Ag Dept had already thrown in the towel since it was beyond hope to eliminate the wonderful things. It wasn't long till they showed up at my house. My attempt to control them was to walk the property to see where they set up camp and found that the Tree of Heaven was by far the population centers. I cut the trees down and burned the brush keeping the larger portions for firewood. One tree was at the edge of the lawn so I dug out the stump, good thing I did because I found a clogged sewer pipe that was going to cause serious problems quickly.


Tree from Hell with immature SPL's:

 

[NCL4701]

SLF was predicted to be a major problem. I recall the grape and possible maple issues.

After what I’ve seen with EAB and ash trees, I don’t discount any of these invasive species.

There’s a lot of ash being harvested to either salvage dead trees or to a lesser extent beat the EAB for live trees. Not much ash will survive in the near term.

Not sure how much ash will survive the long term either. Was a significant component of the North American hardwood market.

They all have the potential to be really bad.

Thankful they aren’t comparable to the Emerald Ash Borer in destructive capacity. That’s a real disaster.

 

[Speed25]

Thanks.

I read some about that. Businesses in the quarantine area getting SLF licenses, a pdf checklist for residents to do stuff like check vehicle wheel wells and physically crush any eggs, nymphs, or adults before leaving the quarantined counties. Thought WTF and briefly considered deleting photos and feeding the one specimen I have to our cat (he likes the occasional bug).

Most recent study I saw in my brief research on my phone before my wife woke up was a study from Penn State saying it’s problematic for grape vines, ailanthus trees, and black walnut saplings under 2 years old. If that’s true, I personally don’t care one way or another about these things.

I didn’t see anything from NC Ag about quarantine measures here. I understand it’s likely very important to them as they’ve been pushing wine grape production and wineries for quite a few years with much success. So I’ll report it and let them do what needs doing. Their website says they have been aware of a small population on the Forsyth/Guilford County border since 2022. I live on that border but had no clue they were in our area already.

So far I’ve seen a total of 1. Good to hear from those with experience it isn’t that big of a deal.

I'm in almost the exact same area as you and remember a recent news story on them saying to report them, take a picture for proof if needed for your report and then kill them if we see them. We've seen one, and did just that. We have black walnuts and red maples, but haven't seen anything beyond that one.

 

[DaveFromMi]

I read somewhere that the spotted lantern fly prefers the tree of heaven. It is also native to China. I am trying to eradicate those before the bug gets here.

 

[lynnmor]

I read somewhere that the spotted lantern fly prefers the tree of heaven. It is also native to China. I am trying to eradicate those before the bug gets here.

Notice the dark coloring on the tree from the sap that the bugs like. This tree is about 12" in diameter and the photo is take the day after it was cut and the bugs still keep coming.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Notice the dark coloring on the tree from the sap that the bugs like. This tree is about 12" in diameter and the photo is take the day after it was cut and the bugs still keep coming.

View attachment 132846

Spray Chinese sumac (allanthus) with a properly diluted solution of Permethrin SFR. Once dry it's safe for people and animals, but bugs get it on their feet which they use to clean their body, and that puts it into their nervous system and jacks it up, causing a seizure (at least that's my understanding).

Permethrin is safe when used properly. Care should be taken to not inhale the solution while spraying or get it in the water supply; read and understand the label, this is not something to use improperly.