…and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image, to romp, graze, gallop, play, and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace.
Heads up, folks, incoming! Another invasive species from China has arrived on our fair shores at the Atlantic coast, and it is an impending agriculture disaster.
The Spotted Lanternfly insect, “Lycorma delicatula,” hails from Vietnam, India, and China, and was first found in 2014 in the southeast part of PA, southwest part of NJ, and the northern part of DE. (1)
It is actually a plant hopper and it likes to eat apple trees, peach and stone fruit trees, and grapes. It also likes hops and pine trees. (2)
The Spotted Lanternfly has large, black, crooked front legs and is about 1” long. It doesn’t glow in the dark like fireflies do, despite is luminous name.
It is a strong jumper, vigorously hopping in lieu of flying, in search of a meal. It feeds on woody and non-woody plants, sucking the “Phloem,” or nutrient and sugar-transporting substance and tissue of the soft, inner portion and foliage. (3)
The Spotted Lanternfly has specialized mouth parts to suck sap.
When the sugary fluid of the plant leaks out due to the Lanternfly piercing it with its mouth, the fluid runs out and down, coating stems and leaves. This can cause mold to grow. Black, fungal mats can be found at the base of the tree or plant. (4)
Trees can develop open, weeping wounds on their trunks. Plants and trees become weak, stunted, and even die.
The Lanternfly doesn’t actually eat the fruit of the tree or its leaves, but rather, it sucks the sap and nutrients.
They live about 1 year and egg cases can survive the harsh cold of the northern winters. Females lay eggs in your backyard woodpile and on outdoor lawnmowers left out after summer. They also like outdoor lawn furniture left laying out over the winter, and egg cases are being found on RV’s and pickup trucks. (5)
This has helped them to spread around the east coast area of the US; there aren’t any natural predators against them at this time.
You can help curtail the Lanternfly invasion when the time comes by recognizing the insect itself, and also what its egg cases look like.
Scrape off the egg cases into plastic lunch baggies filled with rubbing alcohol, seal it up, and dump the whole thing into the trash can.
Research shows the Lanternfly is attracted to spearmint oil, which may possibly be used against it in the future. Pyritherins and other pesticides kill it.
There is a quarantine in PA right now on all PA business owners, managers, farmers, truck drivers and rail road operator/owners and supervisors in the following counties: Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and Dauphin. (6)
Movement and transport of vehicles and items are restricted there.
The Spotted Lanternfly is posing a serious risk to ag crops and operation costs for farming and businesses.
There will be inspections of vehicles and ag-related items to certify that there are no Lanternflies, egg masses, or nymphs hitching rides to other parts of the state or along the east coast.
There is funding within the PA Farm Bill to help protect ag infrastructure, to help suppress the outbreak, and Penn State’s Ag Services is helping with a public outreach program for education on the insect. (8)
Permits will be required of truckers and farmers to transport goods and ag produce.
Businesses will be required to take training classes to help show owners and employees what the Spotted Lanternfly looks like, so they can stop it from spreading.
While the insect is not yet here in western PA, you should take note today, and place an “alert” status in your mind on its progress and advancement across the state.
We do seem to have an over-abundance of Stink Bugs and the Emerald Ash Borer, and everyone’s favorite summer friend, the Japanese Beetle.
Ash trees across PA are dying by the hundreds, and if you take a trip along I-79 or I-80 in the summer months, you will see stands and stands of dead Ash trees.
Our changing not-for-the-better times…
Be alert, the world needs more ‘lerts.
Closing once again with the immortal words of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to You.”
1,5: Internet/Wikipedia
2: Democrat & Chronicle, Sept. 2018
3,4: Entomology News, 2014; Penn State College of Ag Sciences
6: USDA
7,8: Penn State College Co-op Extension