Spotted Lanternflies Are Back: What To Do If You See Them In NY

NEW YORK — Now is the time to start squishing spotted lantern flies if you see them in New York, one of 17 states where the destructive plant hoppers are established.

Other states where spotted lantern flies have been confirmed include Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, according to the USDA.

Adult insects have polka-dotted forewings and bold red underwings, giving them a distinctive appearance. Although it has the allure of a butterfly, the insect’s looks are deceiving. Voracious eaters, spotted lantern flies feed on about 100 plant and tree species, including economically important crops such as grapevines, apple orchards, hops ornamental landscape plants, along with multiple tree species.

The honeydew they secrete when feeding on plants causes sooty mold to grow, blocking photosynthesis in leaves, stressing the plant and potentially killing the plant.

What To Look For

Right now, the nymphs are black with white spots. But at any time now through September, they’ll take on the distinct red coloration and grow to about an inch long and one-half inch wide. In the adult stage, you may not see the flash of red until they take flight. While resting, the grayish forewings with black spots cover the colorful hindwings.

People who see spotted lantern flies in either stage should destroy them. Some states, including New York, are telling residents to step on and squish the pests.

In New York, lantern flies are quarantined in 21 counties for the 2024 season. Experts are advising residents to check their cars to make sure they are not unknowingly transporting flies or their eggs.

An adult female can lay a couple of egg masses, each containing 30 to 60 eggs, allowing populations to grow exponentially, so it’s important to kill them before they can establish another generation of the pests.

The spotted lantern fly, which showed up in Pennsylvania in 2014, spreads much more quickly than other invasive insects. It only took a decade for it to spread to 17 states.

By comparison, it took almost 100 years for the invasive spongy moth to spread from Massachusetts and New York, Matthew Gallo of the Finger Lakes chapter of the Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management told the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Concern Extends To West Coast

Concern extends beyond the states where spotted lantern flies are established. They can jump impressive distances with their powerful legs and fly for short distances, allowing them to quickly travel 3 or 4 miles, according to experts. They’re also hitchhikers. Adults can fly into the open windows of vehicles, into picking bins and into the backs of trucks while they’re being loaded and lay their eggs on almost any surface;

The importance of quarantines and reporting was underscored last week when California Border Protection authorities stopped and turned back after discovering 30 spotted lantern fly egg masses in the art installation the truck was hauling from New York. The egg masses, which can look like cakes of mud, are easily transported on trailers, RVs, semi-trucks, containers, trains and other forms of shipping and transportation.

• Related: Dreaded Spotted Lanternfly Shows Up In California

The truck was headed for California’s Sonoma County, the state’s top wine-producing region.

States across the country are working on action plans with the assumption spotted lantern flies will eventually become established in their areas.

Officials in Oregon, a state heavily invested in the wine, apple, beer and hardwood industries, are similarly worried after the discovery in 2020 of two spotted lantern flies in shipments originating from Pennsylvania.

Last year, agricultural and related agencies in Washington, which has industries similar to Oregon’s developed an action plan to deal with the pest. Without intervention, the spotted lantern fly could be established in Washington by 2033.

"Due to its risk of spreading … it is imperative to be on the lookout for this pest, which is potentially the worst invasive the U.S. has seen in several decades,” the Nebraska Forest Service warned five years ago.

Nebraska hadn’t and still hasn’t confirmed any reports of the invasive insect, but “we would rather have false alarms than have an infestation go undetected for several years,” the Forest Service said.