Spotted Lanternfly Inches Closer to Illinois

Spotted Laternfly Inches Closer to Illinois

by Heather Prince

This July, spotted lanternfly was found in Huntington County, Indiana, just south of Fort Wayne. It had been previously identified in Switzerland County in southern Indiana on the Ohio river in 2021. This invasive and major pest of concern is slowly working its way west from Pennsylvania and getting closer and closer to Illinois.

Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a colorful planthopper insect native to China and parts of India, Vietnam, Japan, and Taiwan. It is a member of the Order Hemiptera (true bugs, cicadas, hoppers, aphids, and others) and the Family Fulgoridae. It was first identified as an invasive species in 2004 in South Korea and is considered a serious pest there. In 2014, it appeared in Berks County, Pennsylvania and its population has exploded through out the state. Lanternfly has now spread to 14 states including Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and Michigan. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working with state Departments of Natural Resources to locate and report any sightings of the insect.

Spotted lanternfly feeds on 103 different types of plants, their favorite being tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima.)

Other favored hosts include apple, plum, cherry, peach,

Spotted lanternfly in its full color.

apricot, grape, and pine. They will also use as host plants if the favorites are not available: American beech (Fagus grandifolia), American linden (Tilia americana), American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), big-toothed aspen (Populus grandidentata), black birch (Betula lenta), black cherry (Prunus serotina), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), black walnut (Juglans nigra), dogwood (Cornus spp.), Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonicus), maple (Acer spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), pignut hickory (Carya glabra), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), white ash (Fraxinus americana), and willow (Salix spp.).

Spotted Lanterfly Damage

This planthopper is a piercing, sucking insect where the adults and immature nymphs feed on sap from stems, leaves, and the trunks of woody plants and occasionally herbaceous plants. In spring, nymphs are found on smaller plants and vines and new growth of trees and shrubs. Third- and fourth-generation nymphs tend to migrate to larger trees to feed on trunks and branches.

The sugary secretions of the nymphs and adult insects coat the host plants in sticky, shiny honeydew and sap may weep from open wounds. The honeydew attracts insects such as wasps, hornets, bees, and ants who will feed on it. However, it is produced in such quantities that our beneficial insects cannot manage it all. Sooty mold usually develops on honeydew as the season progresses, turning any leaves, branches, and surfaces black. Host plants have been described as giving off a fermented odor when spotted lanternfly is present.

Other insects produce honeydew that hosts sooty mold, but the aggressive feeding of spotted lanternfly can create a sticky black mess not only on plants but patios, cars, trucks, decks, playground equipment, outdoor furniture, and anything else under their favored trees. This is often cause for client alarm and can be difficult to remove. The coverage on plant leaves impedes their ability to photosynthesize, stressing the plant and inhibiting growth.

Lanternfly feeding usually does not kill ornamental plants; however, in Pennsylvania, death of some tree of heaven and flagging on black walnut has been seen. It has killed grape vines. It also has a peculiar effect on honeybees. Since bees will forage honeydew, they will use it to produce honey. Beekeepers have found the honey has a smokey taste and smell and is less sweet than a typical honey. The honeydew tainted product has a darker-brown color and a notable aftertaste.

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The Lifecyle of the Insect

Adults are one inch long and a half-inch wide when at rest. The forewing is gray with black spots and the wing tips have black spots outlined in gray. Hind wings have showy contrasting patches of red and black with a white band. The legs and head are black, and the abdomen is yellow with black bands. There are four instars or immature stages. The first three instars are black with white spots. At the fourth instar, they develop red patches filling in between black bands with white spots. When the adult is at rest, particularly on the gray bark of tree of heaven, their color is a fairly effective camouflage. Freshly laid egg masses appear as if coated with a white substance. As they age, the white turns darker, resembling gray mud, which eventually takes on a dry/cracked appearance. Very old egg masses may look like rows of 30 to 50 brown seed-like structures aligned vertically in columns.

Eggs are laid in September through December if temperatures allow. Spotted lanternfly overwinters as egg masses, then the first instars hatch in May through June. Adults are flying beginning in July and through the fall. There is one generation per year.

The insects at the instar stage will feed on various host plants, depending upon availability. In the early instars, spotted lanternfly has been found to move up and down the host plant on a daily basis as they feed. The final immature stage, the fourth instar, are typically present in July before becoming adults. As adults, they are weak fliers, however, being planthoppers, they are very good jumpers and may use their wings to assist in launching significant distances.

Adults may gather in large numbers to feed, making them somewhat easier to spot. In the fall, the adults are frequently found on their favorite tree of heaven to feed but will disperse widely to lay eggs. The USDA states that dusk is a good time to inspect trees or other host plants for signs of the insect, as they tend to gather in large groups on the trunks and stems of plants at the end of the day.

The adult female spotted lanternfly lays brown/tan, seedlike eggs in rows on host plants and other smooth surfaces. These rows are often oriented vertically, and then covered with a waxy secretion from the female. Researchers in Pennsylvania believe each female lays at least two of those masses each season. As the egg mass ages, the gray waxy coating will crack and resembles dried mud. Eggs are laid starting in September, and this can continue through late November or early December. Eggs overwinter, hatch in May, and the life cycle continues. Based on observations from Pennsylvania, eggs can be found, if this insect is present, between October and May. Egg masses can be found on nearly anything from tree trunks to buildings, vehicles, patio furniture, play equipment, trailers, wheel wells on vehicles, firewood, decorative containers, fences, and more. Plant nurseries in areas where populations are high are regularly inspected and certified before moving material out of state.

Managing Spotted Lanternfly

Monitor plants for the insect and report any insects found, keeping whichever instar or adult found in a Ziploc bag for testing. When deciding to treat for spotted lanternfly, make sure you have a confirmed identification. The APHIS site has contact information on reporting.

Fortunately, spotted lanternfly is susceptible to insecticides. Once you have a confirmed identification, consider the size of the population, the prevalence of their preferred host plants in the landscape, the size and health of the plants, and the life stage of the insect present. If you have many walnut, tree of heaven, fruit trees, pine or a client with grapevines, it is worthwhile to consider insecticides. There are currently no known natural predators of spotted lanternfly.

Spotted lanternfly may be killed with low-toxicity insecticides including insecticidal soaps, neem oil, botanical oils, and pyrethrum. For large infestations, contact or systemic treatments with dinotefuran, bifenthrin, zeta-cypermethrin, and carbaryl are effective. Sticky bands around tree trunks have been shown to be effective to trap late instars and adults. Scraping and destroying egg masses is also effective in winter.

Additional resources: • APHIS monitoring site: https:// www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/ the-threat/spotted-lanternfly/spottedlanternfly. • PennState Extension Spotted

Lanternfly Guide: https://extension. psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly.

• PennState Extension Management

Resources: https://extension.psu. edu/spotted-lanternfly-managementresources.

• PennState Extension Management

Guide: https://extension.psu.edu/ downloadable/download/sample/ sample_id/20513/.

• Illinois Department of Agriculture

Reporting: https://ilpestsurvey.inhs. illinois.edu/pest-information/mostunwanted/. .