These invasive insects are multiplying like crazy and spreading into neighboring states.
www.agriculture.pa.gov
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Are you aware of the Eastern US Spotted Lantern Fly invasion?
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How do they adversely effect the ecosystem? Not an adversarial question.These invasive insects are multiplying like crazy and spreading into neighboring states.
Spotted Lanternfly Alert | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
They wipe out crops, kill trees and are a huge ecological threat because they have no natural predators here. This is very serious.
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“It’s unbelievably eruptive in terms of its population,” said Michael Saunders, a professor emeritus of entomology at Penn State. “The very first year we went out, in 2015, you had to really hunt for egg masses, and then over the next two years it was just spectacularly exponential in its growth.”
“I’ve been through a few waves of invasive species, and this is far and away the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” he said."
www.nytimes.com
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“It’s unbelievably eruptive in terms of its population,” said Michael Saunders, a professor emeritus of entomology at Penn State. “The very first year we went out, in 2015, you had to really hunt for egg masses, and then over the next two years it was just spectacularly exponential in its growth.”
“I’ve been through a few waves of invasive species, and this is far and away the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” he said."
Lanternflies Eat Everything in Sight. The U.S. Is Looking Delicious. (Published 2018)
The invasive insects turned up in Pennsylvania in 2014. Now the state has placed 3,000 square miles under quarantine, and scientists worry the pest will spread.
Very aware. Invasive species is what I do for a living. Spent several days scouting around a major railroad yard for these boogers. (The track runs from PA to Chicago - great way for SLF to move.) I have a feeling their movement is inevitable, but the longer we can keep them contained to the East, the longer we have to figure out management strategies before they are across the US.
I heard a story that California inspectors found dead SLF in a cargo aircraft from PA. Sure gave them a fright!
I heard a story that California inspectors found dead SLF in a cargo aircraft from PA. Sure gave them a fright!
Why don't the usual bug-eating predators go for these?
The original article doesn't say, and I cannot see the NY times article which is blocked by a paywall.
Number one, SLF isn't from around here. So there isn't likely to be a native predator that is adapted to feed on this insect. If they do exist, they are likely going to be general predators, not "obligate", meaning that they feed on a wide range of things. So SLF is going to be a food of opportunity and the population impact will be minimal.
Second, this insect feeds on a wide range of trees, shrubs, vines, and plants. It will always find something that it is happy to eat (and one of it's native hosts - Tree of Heaven - is an invasive tree widely found in the United States). This leads to...
Third, SLF is capable of an exponential increase in population in the matter of a few years. If you don't find it fast, it can become an overwhelming issue. Even if something is feeding on them (see above), they have the capacity to "outgrow" their predators.
Fourth, it likes to lay its eggs of smooth surfaces like the bark of certain trees, campers and RVs, storage sheds, shipping containers, rail cars, firewood, you know - practically anything! This means that it has a high likelyhood of being transported to new areas very rapidly and very far away. If we did manage to introduce a predator (which is being investigated), there's a good chance that SLF will extend its range faster than the predator, leaving us to play "catch-up".
For more on this insect, just Google "Spotted Lanternfly" and look for anything from Pennsylvania Dept of Ag/DNR (or other states), Land Grant Universities (Cornell, Penn State, etc) and the USDA.
I live in PA near Philadelphia so I'm very aware. It's like walking through a graveyard of these things when I walk out of the office building I work at. Luckily I haven't spotted any right around my house.
I've seen them swarm a tree and it's disturbing. I'll spare you the images, but you can google it.