The spotted lanternfly is an invasive species that has come to our area. According to the NJ Department of Agriculture, they came from Asia and spread to Pennsylvania in 2014. They came here over the summer months. They pose a risk to many different plants and trees. They urge the reader to “Stomp it Out.” Unfortunately, we can see plenty of alive and dead flies on the track here at Valley. 

Spotted lanternflies suck the sap out of over 70 different plant species, including grapes and apples. The feeding can damage the health or potentially kill the plants. They excrete a sugary honeydew that can attract other bugs, and builds up fungi mold that will affect anything that they are feeding on. They prefer to feed on trees, their tree of choice being the tree-of-heaven.

Our very own environmental science teacher, Mr. Blake, compares them to fruit flies, saying certain species came over to our borders in similar ways. Some exotic species are also similarly invasive. Exotic fruit flies pose extreme danger to agriculture around the US.

He says that the lanternflies are here to stay. He makes the analogy of when the ocean tide moves closer you move your beach chair back. The best we can do is find a way to control them. Time will tell whether or not that involves chemicals, as those are usually used to keep bugs away from fruit. What people are doing now is setting up tree traps to trap the bugs.  Mr. Blake recounts seeing a tree trap with the tape so full of them that they were stepping over each other and they needed more tape to stop them. 

New Jersey orchards are going to suffer because of this. The invasive species has already caused significant harm to vineyards in southeast Pennsylvania. 

There are also simple and effective ways to deal with the lantern flies with household products. One way to eliminate lantern flies is using equal parts of Dawn Dish Soap and water in a spray bottle to kill them and their eggs. Spraying them with white vinegar is another effective way to kill them on contact. The aforementioned tape on the trees works as well. While the bugs may look pretty, they are not good for us.