(WSET) — If you haven’t spotted them yet, you probably will soon.

The peak of spotted lanternfly season is just beginning, and the heat isn’t stopping them. It may actually be speeding up their development.

Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent Scott Baker says this year, the eggs began hatching roughly two weeks earlier than they did last year. He says this is because of some warmer-than-normal temperatures in the spring and summer months.

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The sooner lanternflies hatch, the sooner they progress through their stages of immaturity to adulthood, where they become the recognizable, winged adults.

That’s when you’re most likely to see them flying around in your backyard.

“So based on the temperatures that we have accumulated this year, people should begin to see the adults now, and then they will continue to see more and more adults, less of the immature stages,” Baker says. “And I would say by the end of July or early August, they’ll be seeing only adults”

Even though these pesky bugs are a nuisance, Baker says they don’t actually do that much damage.

When the invasive species first migrated south to Virginia around 2021, Baker says experts took more caution towards them. Now they appear to be less destructive, except to specific grapevine plants.

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Baker adds that other animals adapt by feeding on the lanternflies, which helps to control the population.

“The longer that the insect is in a particular area, the more we are seeing things start to feed on them, like other insects, spiders, birds,” Baker says. “I think Mother Nature, over time, will begin to help us regulate the population outside of what we can do, which is good news.”

If you have any concerns about handling your plants as these bugs hit peak season, agents at the Virginia Cooperative Extension are a free resource and happy to help.

Clarkston — A Virginia man accused of driving drunk on I-75 in northern Oakland County and plowing his truck into a car on the side of the freeway, killing a Pontiac family of four, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Charles Dean Pace, 27, of Glen Allen, Virginia, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday morning to four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing death. He’s being held without bond.

Second-degree murder in Michigan is punishable by any number of years in prison, including a life sentence.

Pace is accused of killing Zakeria Dodson, 23, Tieree Powell, 24, Nalani Powell, 3, and Karter Powell, 2 on July 1 when he crashed into their stalled vehicle with his Ford F-250 on Interstate 75 in Springfield Township. Investigators reported Pace’s blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.

A Virginia man has been charged with murder in a crash that killed a family of four on I-75 in Oakland County earlier this month. 

Charles Dean Pace, 27, of Glen Allen, Virginia, is charged with four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, according to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office. 

The crash happened around 9:10 p.m. on July 1 on southbound I-75 near East Holly Road in Springfield Township. 

Prosecutors allege Pace was driving a Ford F-250 truck on the southbound lanes at a high speed, exceeding 90 miles per hour, while weaving in and out of lanes. 

Pace’s truck struck a disabled Chrysler 300 on the side of the road, killing its occupants, a family of four: 23-year-old Zakeria Sharon Dodson, 24-year-old Tieree Powell, 3-year-old Nalani Powell, and 2-year-old Karter Powell. Pace’s blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit, according to prosecutors. 

“Zakeria, Tieree, Nalani and Karter did not die in an accident,” said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. “They were murdered because of this defendant’s alleged choices — to drive drunk, to drive fast and to drive recklessly — that created an obvious and unnecessary danger. “This is a rare charge, but we believe we can show the most extreme indifference to human life.”

Pace is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday in the 52-2 District Court in Clarkston, according to prosecutors. 

If convicted on second-degree murder charges, Pace faces up to life in prison, while a charge of operating while intoxicated causing a death carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.