If you haven’t heard, the destructive, invasive pest known as the Spotted Lanternfly was first spotted in Berks County in 2014. It’s believe they slipped into southeastern Pennsylvania from southeastern Asia around 2012 and went undetected. Berks County was the first area to go under quarantine and the quarantine area has spread to cover most of southeastern Pennsylvania, including Bucks County.
If you haven’t heard, the destructive, invasive pest known as the Spotted Lanternfly was first spotted in Berks County in 2014. It’s believed they slipped into southeastern Pennsylvania from
Southeastern Asia around 2012 and went undetected. Berks County was the first area to go under quarantine and the quarantine area has spread to cover most of southeastern Pennsylvania, including Bucks County. Spotted Lanternflies are a huge threat to Pennsylvania’s agriculture and natural resources. It is so important for us to find ways to get rid of them and keep them from entering new territory.
On October 9th, 2018 a large number of dead Spotted Lanternflies were found in ANtietam Lake Park in Lower Alsace Township. Researchers from Cornell University discovered that they had died from two fungi that naturally grow in Pennsylvania: Beauveria Bassiana(Beauveria) and Batkoa Major(B.major). Scientists found that 97% of the Spotted Lanternflies found on the trees were killed by Beauveria. As for the ones found on the ground, a little less than half were killed by Beauveria and the rest by B. major. They published their findings April 22nd, 2019.
Beauveria is already found in some environmentally friendly pesticides. Researchers will continue this year studying the effects of these fungi and other pesticides to see which ones we can rely to terminate these pests. May is the first month the insects hatch.
Researchers still need our help! If you see any egg masses on trees, or anywhere, scrap them into a ziplock bag and pure rubbing alcohol on them to destroy them. You can pick up your free kit that includes all the materials you’d need, along with information at Rick’s Expert Tree Service located at 1907 Bensalem Blvd Bensalem, PA 19020. May is the first month that the first instars hatch from these egg masses. Please destroy them. Check your vehicles before you leave so you do not transport them to other areas.
Keep a look out for coming blogs with more information on Spotted Lanternflies and how you can help fight the crisis and other updates to help keep our trees thriving and beautiful.
