Why Destroy the Terrible Spotted Lantern

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Spotted lantern flies (SLF) are native to Southeast Asia but have made their way to the United States in recent years. The first U.S. sighting occurred in Burks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014, and they have since appeared throughout Pennsylvania (and some have not ).

In just seven short years, SLFs spread to New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and southeastern Indiana – and they did it without flying. As the Pennsylvania Expansion Program explains , SLFs are extremely efficient hitchhikers, and here’s how they get around:

Adult SLFs can hold vehicles traveling at 65 mph, and masses of eggs that look like splashes of mud can be hidden on any surface, easily mingling with you and traveling with you anywhere in the Commonwealth and beyond.

While these insects are not harmful to humans or pets, they are invasive. They use their piercing-sucking mouthpieces (I’m sorry you read this) to feed on the sap of trees, especially the heavenly tree ( Ailanthus altissima ). They then secrete a sweet substance called honeydew, which attracts flies and wasps and encourages black sooty mold to grow. This type of mold does not harm people, but it does even more harm to plants and, frankly, is very gross; in severe cases, SLFs are known to cover entire trees, vehicles, decks and playgrounds with their nasty sticky sugar crust.

Basically, these beetles kill trees by sucking the sap out of them, and then exacerbate the situation by spitting out wasp bait that serves as a breeding ground for mold. This has serious implications for tree crops: although the tree of paradise is their usual food source, Cornell University’s book “Have you noticed [a] Lanternfly?” The guide says that the SLF will eat a wide variety of agricultural trees and vines, including grapes, black walnuts, willows, hops, apples, stone fruits, silver maples, and others.

Your state may not have a problem with spotted lanterns right now, but it may not last forever. It is important to understand what these insects look like and how to kill them.

Find out how they look at all stages of life

Spotted fireflies have a distinct life cycle, and you need to know what they look like at each stage of their development. The Cornell University Cooperative Expansion and the Pennsylvania State Expansion Program are great resources for anything related to spotted lanterns. Both programs have created many visual aids to aid identification, such asthis YouTube video from the Penn State Extension channel :

Here’s a quick rundown of what to look for:

  • Egg Mass: Freshly laid eggs look like smeared dirt and can be found on trees, cars, buildings – on almost any surface.
  • Old egg masses: The putty-like coating has worn off, exposing individual seed eggs.
  • Early nymph: Small black oval body with white spots; 1/8 to 3/4 inches long
  • Late nymph: Small red oval body with white spots and black markings; 3/4 inch long
  • An adult with closed wings: a larger, more elongated body with closed translucent white wings and characteristic black spots; 1 inch long; 1/2 “wide
  • An adult with open wings: a larger, more elongated body with open translucent white-red wings with characteristic black spots; 1 inch long; 1 inch wide

It is also helpful to know which stages are occurring and when. Here is a very simple timetable from Cornell’s Did You Spot the Flashlight? resource :

  • September-November: SLFs begin to lay eggs for the season.
  • October-June: Ripening of eggs.
  • May-June: Eggs hatch; larvae develop into early nymphs
  • June-July: early nymphs.
  • July-September: late nymphs.
  • July-December: adults

Right now, you’re likely to see mostly adults and late flowering nymphs, but that means egg-laying season is just around the corner.

Kill them. Kill them all.

There are no natural predators in the United States to help control the population, which means we must kill them. For individual hatched SLFs of all ages, it’s pretty straightforward: crush them, step on them, hit them with a rolled-up newspaper, do whatever it takes to kill them. (Last summer when I lived there, it was obvious that the beautiful people of Philadelphia were serious about this assignment: the Shaykill River Trail was completely covered with SLF corpses from June to December.) For eggs, Penn State recommends using paint. a scraper or similar thin, rigid, flat instrument for scraping materials from surfaces into rubbing alcohol.

If you notice a full-blown infestation – for example, a tree on your property covered in these things – Pennsylvania Expansion recommends buying or making your own round weevil trap. These traps use a plastic insect net and the neck of an old plastic can or bottle to create a sort of death tunnel for the SLF. You can easily attach them to trees without damaging the tree itself or accidentally harming other wildlife, which always comes with the risk of sticky traps. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, use this guide from Penn State to help you choose a qualified pest control company.

Whether you are going to do it yourself or are hiring professionals, beware of the home remedies you may have seen on the internet. According to the Pennsylvania expansion, unproven remedies like vinegar, borax, soap, garlic, and chili probably won’t work as well and may end up doing more damage to your garden or property.

Document and report sightings

If you see any number of SLFs at any stage in life, you should contact your state department of agriculture. Be sure to take many pictures – preferably with a coin, ruler, or other reference to scale – and submit them. Here is a list of reporting resources for states with confirmed cases (each state name leads to a more general information page):

For states that have no confirmed cases or infections, it’s best to google the name of the state using the Spotted Lantern Report and see what appears. The system may already exist. If not, then, frankly, its appearance is only a matter of time. Until then, stay vigilant and kill them all.

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