Spotted lanternflies take flight early in Virginia due to warm temperatures

(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.