Credit: U.S. National Park Service
Sunday marks the end of Invasive Species Awareness Week. While this New York State initiative has been overshadowed by the wildfire smoke from Canada, state officials especially want New Yorkers to watch out for one particular pest this summer.
Since being discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014, the spotted lanternfly, native to Vietnam and China, has steadily moved up on the chart of insects to be on the lookout for because of the damage it does to forests and agricultural crops.
While attractive to look at, the spotted lanternfly is very destructive. It has a mouth structure that penetrates plants and sucks out sap and is particularly fond of maple and apple trees, grapevines, hops, blueberries and stone fruits, among other things. Their feeding results in foliage loss, dieback and, ultimately, plant death.
Spotted lanternflies may not have reached the Pine Plains area yet, but there have been sightings at other locations in Dutchess County as well as in neighboring Litchfield, Berkshire and Ulster counties
A major indicator of spotted lanternfly territory is the presence of a plant called the tree-of-heaven, whose leaves are the insect’s favorite food. Introduced to the U.S. in 1784 from China, the tree-of-heaven’s foul smell quickly made it unpopular as a garden plant, but it has spread nonetheless. Cold winters have limited its range in the Northeast, but sightings near Lafayetteville and near the border of Pine Plains and Stanford were reported in 2022.
Spotted lanternflies increase their range by laying egg masses on any solid material. Since 2018, firewood, packing crates, landscaping waste, fruit and many other materials entering New York from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia must have inspection certificates showing they have been checked for the insects.
If you see a spotted lanternfly or its egg masses, New York State would like you to photograph it, capture and freeze it in a bag or jar, note the location and send all the information to spottedlanternfly@agriculture.ny.gov. For further information, the state agriculture department maintains a webpage devoted to the spotted lanternfly: www.agriculture.ny.gov/spottedlanternfly.