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

VIRGINIA — Now is the time to start squishing spotted lanternflies if you see them in Virginia, one of 17 states where the destructive planthoppers are established.

The spotted lanternfly was first detected in Frederick County on Jan. 10, 2018. Other states where spotted lanternflies have been confirmed include Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, 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 lanternflies 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, te 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.

To slow the spread of the spotted lanternfly, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services established a quarantine for the following counties: Albemarle, Augusta, Carroll, Clarke, Frederick, Page, Prince William, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Warren and Wythe Counties, and the Cities of Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Manassas, Manassas Park, Staunton, Waynesboro and Winchester.

A quarantine means that any businesses in the affected counties are required to get a permit from the state to move items including lanternflies, dead or live trees, outdoor construction or industrial materials, outdoor household items, and more.

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 lanternfly, which showed up in Pennsylvania in 2014, spreads much more quickly than other invasives. 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 lanternflies 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 lanternfly 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 lanternflies 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 lanternflies 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 lanternfly 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.