If you live anywhere from central Virginia to southern New England, you’ve probably witnessed the hordes up close: Massive numbers of polka-dotted pests clustered on vines, branches, and buildings. They start showing up in the springtime as black and white nymphs raining down from the canopy. Then, they go through months of growth stages, becoming bigger and more proficient at distance jumping with each molt. Finally, they transform into the flashy, red, white, black, and beige winged adults coating tree trunks and splattering sidewalks by late summer.
The spotted lanternfly’s (Lycorma delicatula) exact native range is debated, but scientific records agree that the species originated in China. The insects were initially detected in the U.S. in 2014 in southeastern Pennsylvania. Ten years on, they’ve multiplied into a widespread, headline-making, invasive, and costly agricultural pest, particularly for grape growers and vineyards. With their piercing, sucking mouthparts, lanternflies feed on many different plants, and can stress and kill certain species, as they swarm their preferred host plants. Infestations have now been confirmed in 17 states along the East Coast and into the Midwest and Southeast.
They don’t sting, bite, or spread human disease. Yet even if you’re not a grape farmer, the sheer amount of spotted lanternflies popping up in regional infestations can become an unsettling nuisance. And if you live in an area where populations are on the rise, you might be wondering what the future holds. Will every surface eventually be covered in lanternflies? Is there any hope? What are we doing to stop it?
Thankfully, experts closely studying lanternflies have insights to offer, and there are some encouraging signs emerging. Scientists haven’t given up on exploring better ways to manage them. So far, there’s been little evidence that the bothersome insects pose an ecological threat. And lanternfly numbers have waned in the…
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