[Pollinator] Spotted Lanternfly - a growing threat to insect pollinators

[Kirk Wattles]

Friends,

We're having a problem here in eastern Pennsylvania which will likely have dire consequences for pollinator insects (and others) in a wide section of the U.S., if not nationally.

I'm not an expert, but I know that 1 + 1 + 1 = 3.

1 - The Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an leaf-hopper-type insect that got started as an 'invasive' in Berks County, Pennsylvania 4-5 years ago.

1 - Official resources for containing and extirpating the SLF are inadequate. The would-be quarantine zone has expanded several times in the last two years, with nothing to suggest that the invasion will be contained.  Wherever the Ailanthus tree grows, they will multiply.

1 - Neonicotinoid pesticides are the only "best" treatment, and probably neonics (and other pesticides) will be very heavily used by official agencies, farmers, and DIY horticulturalists, and anyone who wants to protect their trees. With knock-on effects on many other insects.

I don't know how far knowledge of this problem has reached, but I see little sign of concern or news coverage outside of the locally affected areas.

I won't elaborate on the details of the problem.  Again, I'm not an expert.  I'm a beekeeper.  I heard through beekeeping clubs in the affected area that local people were freaking out, 4-6 weeks ago when the SLF graduated from the instar/nymph stage and began dropping from the trees in massive numbers.  When I investigated, I began to see how neonics were being promoted by word of mouth and recognized by the officials running the current efforts.  And how the invasion is in the mid-phase of exponential growth.

A lot of the relevant information and links are collected in a facebook group 'Spotted Lanternfly' and on a facebook page 'Spotted Lanternfly Watch.' (Links to those may trigger spam filters, so you can just look them up for yourselves.)  The main agencies involved currently are the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Penn State University.

It should be self-evident, to anyone who knows bugs reading through that material (including the comments by knowledgeable observers in the zone), how bad this problem is likely to be.

--
Kirk Wattles
kwattles at verizon.net
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