Spotted Lanternflies are invasive insects that continue to spread throughout Virginia. And, if you hate stomping and squishing them, the good news is: state officials say don’t even bother. Instead, your time is better spent killing their favorite food source, tree of heaven.
Spotted Lanternflies wreaked havoc on vineyards in Pennsylvania before they moved into Virginia in 2008. Now, they’re in more than half of the Commonwealth’s cities and counties, says David Genino, Deputy Director for the division of consumer protection in the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“We know spotted lanternfly’s gonna be here for the long haul,” Genino said. “Spotted lanternfly is probably gonna continue to spread until every locality in Virginia is going to have it.”
But the good news is, so far, the damage to Virginia vineyards hasn’t been as bad as officials had anticipated, Genino said. “With agriculture in particular, we’ve not had reports of significant vine die off or significant losses.”
Genino partly credits research in recent years, showing that farmers can mitigate damage by treating orchards and vineyards with insecticide as soon as the bugs show up. Of course this adds to the cost for farmers, and chemical treatments aren’t available for organic growers.
Stage agencies have also begun partnering with the department of agriculture to kill tree of heaven on the sides of roads. This invasive plant is a spotted lanternfly’s favorite food.
Another way to prevent the bugs from taking over your yard is to look for and destroy spotted lanternfly egg masses. These brown globs appear in September and through the winter. Each egg mass can have as many as 50 eggs, which will hatch next spring if not destroyed.
Genino said local extension agents can help determine the best course of treatment, and with fewer staff at VDACS designated to help control spotted lanternfly, local agencies and researchers are helping state officials track the insects’ continued spread.
“Early on we were tracking it a lot better than we are now,” Genino said. “And we’re basically getting to the point where we’re confirming it within the locality, and then, kind of leave it up to local extension agents to kind of determine the local population levels, just because we don’t have the staff to survey as much as we used to.”
More resources:
· Virginia Cooperative Extension has guidance on the best ways to treat against spotted lanternfly in yards, including which pesticides work best.
· The Virginia Department of Agriculture has advice on how to find and scrape SLF egg masses. Egg masses will appear beginning in September and throughout the winter.
· Recommended Treatments for Tree of Heaven, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry: (and how it can be repurposed into things like firewood).
· More information on tree of heaven from Virginia Tech.
