Spotted lanternfly season is back. Here’s how to help get rid of them in Delaware

As summer reaches an official end, invasive pest problems are still raging on around the Delaware area, specifically the spotted lanternfly.

Here’s what to know about spotted lanternflies in Delaware, and how to manage and report them.

What is the Spotted lanternfly?

Spotted lanternflies are no stranger to the Delaware area. Native to Asian countries like China, Vietnam and India, the invasive pests were first discovered in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014.

Spotted lanternfly nymphs are usually between one-eighth inch and one-half inch in size with white-spotted black bodies that change to red as they age. Adults are around 1 inch in length and feed on both woody and non-woody plants, including trees and a variety of plant species.

Even though their lifespan is roughly only one year, these pests reproduce quickly and in high quantities. According to PestWorld, the spotted lanternfly tends to lay its eggs on flat surfaces, and can typically lay an average of 30 to 50 eggs at a time. One pregnant female spotted lanternfly can lay upward of 200 eggs before the peak season ends.

Egg masses of spotted lanternflies are trickier to spot, but may be more crucial to destroy. They usually take on a light tan shade that can easily blend in with tree bark or smudges of dirt that can range up to around 1-2 inches wide.

While they pose no threat to humans directly, they put many major agricultural products and other plants in danger. A host of spotted lanternflies has the ability to deplete entire crops or trees of their resources and leave residue that prevents the crops like apples, cherries, grapes, peaches and trees like walnut, pine, oak and willows from growing back.

The Delaware Department of Agriculture has called the spotted lanternfly “detrimental to Delaware’s agricultural industries, the environment and residential areas.”

The tree of heaven

The tree of heaven, a deceptively named invasive plant commonly found on the U.S. East Coast, seems to be the habitat of choice for spotted lanternflies. Experts advise that removing these types of trees is the best bet of eliminating local lanternfly populations at their source.

The first step in removing this species is making sure it is correctly identified because they can be easily confused for native trees like sumac or black walnuts.

Trees of heaven typically grow in clusters and have extremely high tolerance to poor soil quality. According to the Delaware Department of Agriculture, this tree is often found in industrial parks, along highways and railways and in unmanaged areas or vacant lots. They have a gray bark with vertical lines and leaflets that grow long, green and white flowers in the spring.

Eliminating the female trees, which can be identified with its winged seedpods, will eliminate them as a potential food source for spotted lanternflies. However, a method that experts recommend is planting a male tree of heaven that does not have seeds as a “trap tree.” If these trap trees are treated with insecticide, they can lure and kill spotted lanternfly populations that try and inhabit them.

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Removal of trees of heaven can be a heavy burden, since their roots have been reported to grow over 25 feet underground and rapidly repopulate even if the parent tree is killed. To ensure a tree is killed, consult an arborist for best practices, which may involve treating the tree with herbicide.

Getting rid of spotted lanternflies

Delaware’s Department of Agriculture has placed the entire state on a quarantine for the invasive species since July 2022. The department urges residents to kill lanternflies immediately and report it so that the state’s pest control specialists can track its spread.

Although lanternflies are winged, they can only fly short distances and primarily jump or walk, which make them pretty easy targets to squish on your next walk.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the late summer months are the best time to systemically apply insecticide to reduce the lanternfly populations before egg masses are laid. Look for pesticides or insecticides that are specifically meant for plant-hoppers or leaf-hoppers.

If encountering an egg mass, the best method of removing it is scraping the mass off of the surface and properly destroying them. The Delaware Farm Bureau recommends scraping the egg masses into a bag of rubbing alcohol and disposing of them to prevent them from hatching in the future.

If an infestation is found on a tree, experts also recommend banding that tree to prevent disease from spreading. This can be done by wrapping a material like plastic, duct tape, butcher paper or other insulation around the trunk of the tree.

Consulting a pest specialist who has expertise in spotted lanternfly treatment is another way to ensure the infestation does not spread around your area. The Delaware Department of Agriculture keeps an online catalog of licensed ornamental and turf pesticide companies in different areas to peruse through.

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The department is also requesting that residents submit spotted lanternfly reports, especially around the Dover Air Force Base and around Sussex County, to help experts determine how these insects move. These reports can be submitted online, emailed to HitchHikerBug@delaware.gov or posted to social media with the hashtag #HitchHikerBug. Be sure to include your location, basic contact information and a photo.

Molly McVety covers community and environmental issues around Delaware. Contact her at mmcvety@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.