Here to stay?

You can squash spotted lanternfiles; eliminating them is a different story

By: Scott Fallon
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... For most of the summer, [2021] at the urging of public officials, New Jerseyans have been trying to stomp the spotted lanternfly out of existence in an effort to prevent them from damaging trees and crops.
.... But as they begin to lay egg mases this month, [09/2021] efforts to eradicate the invasive insect are proving to be no match for their ability to grow, Experts say the bug, a native of Asia, is her to stay and its population will have to be manage to stem the threat to agriculture.
..... "We're clearly not stopping it from spreading," said Daniel Strombom, a mathematician and professor in Lafayette College's biology department who has spent months examining the lanterfly's growth. "Just look at the spread pattern. Look at the growth. We are at a point where we have to manage the population."
..... After first being found in eastern Pennsylvania seven years ago, clusters of spotted lanterfiles have been found in at least 87 counties in 10 Northeast and Midwest states, although experts suspect they are far more widespread.
..... In August [2021] alone, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture received almost 10,000 emails and phone calls concerning the pest.
..... The reports prompted state officials to expand its quarantine to 13 counties: Morris, Monmouth, Middlesex, Essex, Union, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Salem, Somerset and Warren.
..... But quarantines are proving little match as other counties have seen an invasion. Swarms have even made their way to the urban confines of Hoboken and Jersey City in Hudson county.
..... "The spotted lanterfly is such a great hitchhiker on almost any type of transpiration, this includes even buses and trains," said Jeff Wolfe, a spokesman for the department of Agriculture. "It's not unusual for the insect to make its way into urban areas where there is a high amount of vehicle traffic and other transportation methods."
..... New Jersey is both a perfect breeding ground and way point for the bug thanks to the state's role as an international trade hub where millions of shipping containers are unloaded each year and as a domestic transportation corridor for points north, south and west. A rugged invasive species like the spotted lanternfly is able to hitch a ride, establish a foothold in a new land and multiply exponentially.

What do spotted lanterfiles do?

..... Spotted lanterfiles love to feed on the tree of heaven. But in their absence, they will suck the sap from as many as 70 plants species, especially fruit trees. More sap production from the tree, along with the bug's own excrement, draws other insect like wasps and ants to feed and promotes mold growth. That one-two punch can weaken the tree and eventually contribute to its death.
..... So far the damage in New Jersey has been limited to vineyards where wine producers have seen the lanterfiles feed on the sap in grapevines, said Peter Furey, executive director of the New Jersey Farm Bureau.
..... "Growers must treat the vines to fend them off," he said.
..... State and federal authorities have 20 two-person crews treating areas throughout New Jersey but cannot respond to every reported sighting.

Spotted lanternfly reporting

..... A public campaign this summer [2021] to "beat the Bug!" and "Stomp It Out!" has helped bring awareness of the bug to the public. And while some streets are littered with the carcasses of squashed lanternfiles, it probably won't make much of a dent in the population.
..... "It's virtually impossible to wipe them out at his point," said Matthew Aardema, a Montclair State University entomologist who has encountered clusters on hikes deep into New Jersey forests. "It's a persistent species that can feed on a variety of different plant species. They will continually radiate out."
..... A study by a team led by Stromborn at Lafayette College estimated that about 35% of all lanterflies would need to be killed this year [2021] in order for their population to go into decline next year. [2022] One lanternfly will give rise to five to six in the coming year [2022] under the current trend, the study shows.

Milestone in spotted lanternfly stages of life

..... September marks an important time in the lanterfly's life cycle. Females lay about 100 eggs each from late September through November. The adult lanterfiles don't survive winter but the eggs do, hatching around May. The bugs reach adulthood by summer, when they develop red patches on tier wings.
..... "The key right now is to keep them form spreading and to keep their numbers down in areas where they currently occur," said Josephine Antwi, an entomologist at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. "By destroying egg masses in the winter, we keep the number of the following generation down."

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