Research Summaries Eggs October – June Egg Laying September – December
Spotted Lanternfly Invades Pennsylvania
Hatch and First Instar May – June
Adults July – December
Spotted Lanternfly Life Cycle
Fourth Instar July – September
By Mike Fidanza, Ph.D.
Second Instar June – July
Third Instar June – July
Illustrations by Colleen Witkowski. Source: https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly
The
spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) has become an unwelcome invasive pest in southeastern Pennsylvania. It was first discovered in Berks County in 2014, and its population has increased to become a threat to agriculture, including grapes, tree-fruit, hardwoods and nurseries. This insect particularly likes the tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), which initially was planted in the U.S. as an urban street tree. At the Center for the Agricultural Sciences and A Sustainable Environment at Penn State Berks Campus, during the
summer of 2018, entomologists from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences conducted field trials on various commercially available insecticides that could potentially control this pest on grapes and peaches. A few insecticide products may help manage this pest, but more research is planned. For more information, refer to https://extension.psu.edu/ updated-insecticide-recommendations-for-spotted-lanternfly- on-grape. Of note, the spotted lanternfly was observed walking on creeping bentgrass test plots at Penn State Berks, but it seems they are not interested in turfgrass. 7
A National Team of Scientists Embark on a $5.7 Million Award from USDA to Address Annual Bluegrass Epidemic in Turfgrass By John Kaminski, Ph.D.
The
most widely grown irrigated crop in the U.S. — turfgrass — is being threatened, and a team of 16 scientists across 15 universities will be finding solutions to the problem. Annual bluegrass, known as Poa annua, is the most troublesome weed of turf systems, according to a recent Weed Science Society of America survey, and this weed has grown to epidemic proportions, causing severe economic losses. Scientists across the nation will address the threat with a four-year, $5.7 million
16 Pennsylvania Turfgrass • Spring 2019
project designed to limit the impact of annual bluegrass, the most troublesome weed of athletic, golf, lawn and sod turf. The project is being led by Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan at Texas A&M University. Our lab at Penn State will focus on various biological aspects of annual bluegrass and take the lead on the development of educational materials. Funding is from a Specialty Crops Research Initiative Coordinated Agricultural Project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture. 7
