If you see it, squash it: The reason why you should kill lanternflies and how to do it, according to experts

The spotted lanternfly has successfully spread to at least 17 states east of the Mississippi River from the first documented infestation in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014. Fallon Meng, a doctoral candidate at NYU’s Department of Biology, told ABC News that researchers believe this initial invasion was the result of masses of eggs on a 2012 stone shipment from South Korea via their native range in urban Shanghai, China.

Their adaptations to urban life in Shanghai including the heat, pesticides, and pollution have helped them thrive in the U.S. However, they have become the bane of natural resources officials, homeowners, and fruit, especially grapes, farmers because of their voracious appetite for sweet tree sap.

The pest is costing local economies millions of dollars through crop destruction, timber losses and expenses to control. Where present, people are encouraged to kill the invasive insect on sight and to destroy their egg masses to at least bring their numbers under control and stop their spread.

How to kill spotted lanternflies

Spotted lanternflies do not bite nor sting and present no danger to humans. They may be dangerous for some animals if ingested as their preferred food source, the Tree of Heavan, has toxins in its sap that then makes the bugs toxic too.

These destructive pests can be killed at any stage of their life cycle. But know that while they are terrible fliers, they are really good jumpers and not that easy to catch.

Their eggs can be destroyed using rubbing alcohol, more on that later, and the nymphs and adults can be killed by stomping on them, bopping them, squashing them, etc. If you use pesticide, be sure to follow the instructions for safe usage.

Once they hatch in the spring, spotted lanternflies go through four nymph stages before becoming an adult. During the first three they are a shiny black with white dots and in the fourth, which typically occurs by July, they turn a distinctive red with white dots.

As adults, usually in July and August, they are about an inch long with gray, black spotted wings when they are closed. However, when they open their wings, they reveal bright red hindwings.

In the fall, spotted lanternflies lay their eggs, typically on just about any flat vertical surface. Authorities ask that anyone who travels through or visits areas with spotted lanternfly infestations to check their clothing, gear, and vehicle, espcially under the wheel well, for egg masses and destroy any that you find.

Braden Meiter, an Allegheny County park ranger, explains that these egg masses are “about an inch and a half long structure. It’s kind of oval-shaped and it looks like a smear of gray or brown mud.” It is necessary to scrap the eggs off with a stiff piece of plastic so that you don’t damage the surface that they are attached to.

Also, you do not want to let them to simply fall on the ground where they could possibly survive and hatch in the spring, so use a piece of paper to collect them. Then to destroy the eggs, put them into a container with rubbing alcohol.

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