The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has asked the public to kill the spotted lanternfly and avert a threat to dozens of plant species and agriculture, including apple orchards and vineyards.
According to the USFWS, while the species is native to southern China, Vietnam and Taiwan, it was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014. As of now, it has spread throughout Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and half of the New England states.
“(The) spotted lanternfly has spread so much faster than a lot of invasives that we’ve seen in the past,” Matthew Gallo of the Finger Lakes chapter of the Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) said in a USFWS report on medium.com.
In July this year, the spotted lanternfly was seen in Indiana—the farthest west it’s been found to date, according to USFWS.
“Gypsy moths took almost 100 years just to spread from Massachusetts to New York. Spotted lanternfly has made it to 10 states in only seven years,” Gallo said.
The USFWS describes the spotted lanternfly as having polka-dotted fore wings and bold red underwings.
“They have really beautiful wings, sort of a lavender to gray on their front wings and then beautiful bright red hind wings when they fly...although they actually don't fly that much, they mainly hop," Dr. Floyd Shockley from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History told Local 12.
According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the insects can attack a variety of trees and crops— including almonds, apples, hops, Poplar and Sycamore trees, walnuts peaches and nectarines, among others.
This has led to a public awareness campaign to enlist residents in killing the spotted lanternfly when they spot one, APHIS said.
At this time of the year, the spotted lanternfly is in the egg-laying stage, according to the University of Delaware Daily. These eggs will hatch in the spring and turn red by mid-summer.
