State Department Of Agriculture And Markets Sounds Alarm Over Spotted Lanternfly

The spotted lanternfly, an invasive species that made its way to North America from China in 2014, is now firmly established in the five boroughs of New York City, as well as Nassau County, and continues to expand its range.

It’s inching eastward in Suffolk County and one day is expected to reach the East End — where it will threaten grapevines and other economically important crops.

Chris Logue, the director for plant industry for the State Department of Agriculture and Markets, recently called on the public to be vigilant and help combat the spotted lanternfly.

It emerges and remains in a nymph stage between June and late July or early August. The nymphs are wingless and start out black with white spots before turning red with black lines and white spots.

Now is when they are in the adult stage and more noticeable. The adults are about an inch long and have two sets of wings. When the wings are closed, the tan forewings with black spots are visible. When the wings open, the red, white and black hind wings are exposed.

Mating starts in early September, and egg-laying continues through the fall months.

The insect has been found on Long Island as far east as MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, Logue said.

Human activity is a big contributor to the insect’s spread; adults or their egg masses hitch rides on cargo or on vehicles and trailers. In addition to asking state residents to be on the lookout for the tiny hitchhikers, Logue said the Department of Agriculture and Markets is working to raise awareness in the trucking and rail industries. Inspecting for egg cases and scraping them off will reduce the insect’s spread.

“We’re really thankful to Pennsylvania, in particular, our neighbor to the south, who has done a really good job at containing this over the past several years,” Logue said. But despite those efforts, he added, spotted lanternfly is now established in several places in New York.

According to Logue, spotted lanternfly is established in the New York City area, Hudson Valley, Binghamton area and, most recently, the Syracuse area, though the numbers in the latter area are still small.

Spotted lanternfly is so well established in New York City at this point that the department is no longer asking residents to report it — only to kill it on sight.

State residents outside New York City should report the insects immediately after they are found. The sightings can be reported by going to agriculture.ny.gov/spottedlanternfly and clicking “Contact the SLF responders.”

The department asks residents to take a photo of the insect or eggmass, collect it, and store it in a freezer or in a jar with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer. The photo can be uploaded using the contact form.

“After you have reported SLF in your area and collected a sample, you should kill any additional SLF you see by stepping on it or crushing it,” the department’s website instructs.

Based on the frequency of sightings, the department will prioritize areas to inspect and survey, Logue said. Of particular concern are grape-growing regions, such as the East End. He noted that New York is the No. 3 state for grape production. “For vineyard owners, being vigilant and being on top of treatments is going to be really important,” he said.

Anyone coming from an area where spotted lanternflies are present should take precautions before traveling to a grape-growing region.

“Inspect your vehicles,” Logue said. “Be sure that you don’t have adult spotted lanternfly hitchhiking with you on your vehicles. That’s really important for folks who are living in infested areas.”

In the fall, any cars, RVs or trailers that have been sitting unused should be inspected for egg masses before they are put back on the road again. “I can’t stress that checking for adults and for egg masses enough,” Logue said. He added that egg scraping will make a difference in the population going forward.

Spotted lanternfly egg masses each contain between 30 and 50 eggs, covered in a waxy, yellowish-brown substance that changes color in time.

For property owners who find the pest on their properties, Logue advised following the recommendations of Cornell Cooperative Extension and the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program. Both have resources on their websites.

In the summer, the adults can be vacuumed up or put into soapy water to kill them, Logue said. In late fall, egg masses found on trees and other surfaces should be scraped off.

“Working cooperatively with your neighbors is going to be more effective than trying to just maintain your own property,” Logue said. “These spotted lanternfly, they do tend to move around from place to place.”

One application of insecticide or one session of vacuuming adults won’t control the problem, he noted: “It’s going to be sort of an ongoing thing for a property owner.”

He said that spotted lanternfly tends to be an “edge” species that is found where farms and fields transition into forests.

“In 2014, when it was discovered, there was not a lot of research information out there about the impacts of spotted lanternfly,” Logue pointed out. “A lot of what was available to us was actually information coming out of South Korea, where it had been introduced, we think, from Vietnam or somewhere else in Asia. And so there’s just not been huge amounts of information. But we’re making progress on the research side of things every day.”

It is known that tree of heaven, an invasive tree from China and Taiwan, is a host plant for spotted lanternfly. Whether aggressively removing tree of heaven is the best solution to controlling spotted lanternfly is unknown.

Logue said the question is whether removing tree of heaven could drive spotted lanternflies to an economically important crop instead. “We don’t necessarily know the answer to that,” he said.

Plus, a problem with trying to eliminate tree of heaven is that the trees readily resprout from the trunks, he explained, so cutting down the trees can lead to a thicker population. He also noted that in Pennsylvania, tree of heaven is used as trap trees: The trees are treated with a systemic insecticide that kills the spotted lanternflies that feed on it.

Spotted lanternfly quarantines within the state are on the table. “There’s a national effort that’s going to be starting here in the next couple of weeks to evaluate spotted lanternfly and do some strategic planning about what’s working and what’s not working,” Logue said. “And we’re going to kind of see what that process looks like and then make our decision as far as interior quarantines are concerned.”

In Pennsylvania, the quarantines apply to the movement of landscaping, remodeling or construction waste; logs, stumps or any tree parts; firewood of any species; grapevines; nursery stock; packing materials, such as pots, crates, pallets, etc.; outdoor household articles, including recreational vehicles, tractors and mowers, grills and furniture and their covers, tarps, mobile homes, tile, stone, deck boards, mobile fire pits, and any associated equipment and vehicles not stored indoors.

Movement is not prohibited, but it is regulated to prevent the transport of spotted lanternfly adults, nymphs and eggs.