Spotted Lanternfly

I saw quite a few Spotted Lanternflies last year, but I'm definitely seeing more of them this year. (On Monday I actually had two get stuck going inside my shirt - not sure what those guys were thinking.)

This invasive insect, spreading like crazy in NJ, hurts many of our plants (including some agriculturally important one) by sucking sap from them. It also excretes a honeydew onto our plants that attracts mold that can damage plant fruits/seeds/leaves. Because of this, Spotted Lanternflies can even damage plants that it does eat if those plants are underneath a plant it does eat; the forest understory could be indirectly damaged by these guys.

These guys are true bugs, not flies like their name suggests. Aphids and cicadas are other true bugs, though they're not close relatives to the Spotted Lanternflies.

Though I think there's too many of these guys to squish our way out of an infestation, the official advice is to kill them if you find them.

Here are pictures of Spotted Lanternflies at different stages of life. You can easily find them out and about at each of these life stages.

June 18, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 141960403, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


July 22, 2021 at Fairview Farm
Photo 148399921, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)



August 3, 2021 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 149026405, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

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