[Pollinator] Pollinator Digest, Vol 1929, Issue 1

Tue Oct 10 13:32:53 PDT 2017

re: The Spotted Lanternfly and Ailanthus

I think Kirk Wattles is right to worry about this invasive bug. It doesn't
just feed on Ailanthus trees, it attacks some commercial crops and some
native trees, so efforts to control it are going to be vigorous. The
weakness it has is its preference to feed on the Ailanthus tree in late
summer and lay eggs there in the fall. This is the reason Pennsylvania
is encouraging people in Lanternfly infested zones to dose their Ailanthus
trees with neonics (imidacloprid, dinetofuran) before the bugs arrive.

Unfortunately, there are reports from beekeepers that honeybees do like
Ailanthus flowers when in bloom. Bloom time is listed as June-July. I think
one constructive step would be for PA agricultural authorities to amend
their instructions to say something like "if you use systemic pesticides on
Ailanthus trees, be sure to do so in early August, not before". This will
give the bees 10 months before they encounter the pesticides in next year's
flowers, which will reduce the effective dose. It will also ensure the dose
is higher when the lanternflies arrive on the trees.

An alternative for those willing to do a bit more work is to use something
like a horticultural oil spray on the trunks of Ailanthus trees. As this
requires contact, it won't kill everything, but it should also get rid of
egg clusters if they are sprayed. The PA Agriculture folk recommend
inspecting Ailanthus trees on a property, cutting down the ones that are
less attractive to lantern flies, and just treating the remaining ones.
This should make whatever treatment is used more effective.

Dr. Surendra Dara, an IPM and crop advisor at the University of California
, says "A parasitic wasp called *Anastatus orientalis* may have potential
because it is reported to parasitize up to 69 percent of spotted lanternfly
eggs in China." The USDA Agricultural Research Service has recently started
evaluating natural controls in China - see
https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=338695
but it is often many years before such natural enemies can be determined to
be effective and safe for release. Recently ARS and PA researchers reported
than a parasitoid long ago introduced to North America for gypsy moth
control is now attacking lantern fly eggs - see
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5270392/ . Since this
parasitoid is already in the US, there would presumably be no objections to
mass rearing it and releasing it at lantern fly infestations. The USDA is
presumably studying this.

Clement Kent

On Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 3:00 PM, <pollinator-request at lists.sonic.net> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. Spotted Lanternfly - a growing threat to insect   pollinators
>       (Kirk Wattles)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2017 10:14:10 -0400
> From: Kirk Wattles <kwattles at verizon.net>
> To: pollinator at lists.sonic.net
> Subject: [Pollinator] Spotted Lanternfly - a growing threat to insect
>         pollinators
> Message-ID: <15f06a2bde1-c09-30e05 at webjas-vae124.srv.aolmail.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> 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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