There is an invasive insect spreading through the mid-Atlantic US, and people are putting their foot down 鈥� literally.
States from North Carolina to New York have issued smoosh-on-sight orders encouraging residents stomp, squash and trap spotted lanternflies. One Pennsylvania resident even created an app called that allows users to compete for the most kills.
鈥淜ill it! Squash it, smash it鈥ust get rid of it,鈥� that state鈥檚 advises online. 鈥淭hese are called bad bugs for a reason, don鈥檛 let them take over your county next.鈥�
Advertisement
The bugs, which are native to China, got their bad reputation because of the devastation they caused in places like South Korea, which they . There they munched grapes and fruit trees to the point of severe damage or death. Two years after they were first detected, they had damaged just a single hectare of grapevines in the country. By six years, they were feasting on more than .
That seems good reason to be wary 鈥� but how much difference can individual efforts to stamp them out really make? And how much harm could the insects cause if we don鈥檛 halt their spread?
The striking brown and crimson insects first arrived in south-east Pennsylvania in 2014 after hitchhiking on a shipment of landscaping stones from China. In the eight years since, lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) have spread outward in every direction, invading more than .
Lanternflies use their straw-like mouthparts to suck vital nutrients from food crops like walnuts, grapes and stone fruits. As they feed, they secrete a sticky substance called honeydew that fosters the growth of a fungal disease called on plants, which can coat leaves and prevent photosynthesis.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen lanternflies build to populations where you can鈥檛 even see the bark of the tree through the insect bodies,鈥� says at Penn State Extension in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unnerving because you wonder what that鈥檚 doing to the health of the tree.鈥�
So far, lanternflies in the US have only killed grapevines, black walnut saplings and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), an invasive Asian species. Though one Pennsylvania vineyard reported because of the bugs, crop losses so far have been relatively minor due to the use of effective insecticides.
鈥淟anternflies are not doing as much聽 economic damage as we thought,鈥� says at Pennsylvania State University. 鈥淏ut who knows what鈥檚 going to happen as they expand their range?鈥�
Researchers don鈥檛 yet know which climates lanternflies can tolerate but anticipate that they will . Californian vintners are particularly worried about what the species could mean for the state鈥檚 wine industry.
鈥淭he spotted lanternfly seems to be able to feed on just about any plant that鈥檚 available if they have to,鈥� says Swackhamer.
Late summer to early autumn is peak breeding season for lanternflies, which will soon begin laying that will hatch next spring. While the insects can fly and jump short distances, their spread has largely been aided by people who inadvertently transport eggs between states on equipment or vehicles. That is why many eastern states have been ramping up their stomp and squish campaigns.
But while these can be great for drumming up awareness, stomping the bugs to death is 鈥渘ot the management plan鈥�, says Urban. Instead, she says, more effective solutions come in the form of public support for government-led insecticide treatments, careful monitoring of transport hubs and developing new ways keep the lanternfly population in check. One idea, for instance, is to expose the flies to that occur in their native range to control numbers in the US.
That鈥檚 not to say the squashing is totally useless. 鈥淭he idea is that we can prevent it from spreading just long enough to give us a better long-term solution,鈥� says Urban. 鈥淓ven though in the big scheme of things you鈥檙e just buying a little bit of time, that little bit of time means a lot.鈥�
For those not keen to follow squish-on-sight orders, there are alternative ways to stop the insects鈥� spread. Trapping lanternflies in or using approved insecticides can help, but avoiding transporting to new locations may be most important. Thoroughly crushing the egg masses will destroy them, as will scraping them into a container with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitiser.
Sign up for Wild Wild Life, a free monthly newsletter celebrating the diversity and science of animals, plants and Earth鈥檚 other weird and wonderful inhabitants
