HUNTINGTON COUNTY, Ind. — The invasive spotted lanternfly has officially migrated to northern Indiana, according to Purdue University.
The spotted lanternfly was seen in Huntington County in July, just one year after its initial sighting in Switzerland County.
(NOTE: The video above is from a previous report on invasive bugs.)
Cliff Sadof, professor of entomology and Purdue Extension fellow, said this migration poses a significant agricultural risk to wine grape growers and honeybee and walnut tree producers.
According to Sdof, the insect can only reproduce when feeding on walnut trees, grape vines or trees of heaven, despite feeding on over 100 different types of plants.
A native of Asia, the spotted lanternfly was first identified in the United States in 2014, northwest of Philadelphia. It's likely that insect eggs came over with a load of landscaping stones. Eight years later, there are reported infestations in 13 states, mostly on the East Coast, according to the New York State Integrated Pest Management program at Cornell University.
The insect has been able to spread so far, so fast because it is a stealthy hitchhiker. Drivers this time of year unwittingly give lifts to adults, which look like moths, perched inside trunks, on wheel wells or on bumpers.
People also unknowingly transport spotted lanternfly eggs, which are laid later in the season. Females leave masses of 30 or more eggs on all sorts of surfaces, from tree trunks to patio furniture. Eggs laid on portable surfaces, like camping trailers and train cars, can hatch in the spring many miles away.
Spotted lanternfly fighters are doing everything from applying pesticides to cutting down trees of heaven, another invasive species that is a favored host of the spotted lanternfly. But public involvement is front and center.
And if you see one? Show no mercy.
“Kill it! Squash it, smash it ... just get rid of it,” reads a post by Pennsylvania agricultural officials.
New York City parks officials agree, advising: “please squish and dispose.”
“Join Jersey's Stomp Team,” read billboards in New Jersey showing a shoe about to stamp out an insect.
In 2021, a homeowner in Switzerland County contacted Indiana Department of Natural Resource's Division of Entomology & Plant Pathology with a photo taken outside his home of a fourth instar — a developing larvae. When DEPP staff went onsite to survey, they discovered an infestation in the woodlot adjacent to that homeowner.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is asking anyone who sees a spotted lanternfly to take a photo and send it to DEPP@dnr.in.gov, or call 1-866-No-Exotic.
What other people are reading:
- If you have an iPhone, you should probably update it ASAP. Here's how.
- Carmel woman sentenced for rape of teenager with special needs
- Foot, shoe spotted in Yellowstone hot spring is now a death investigation
- CDC confirms Nebraska child died of brain-eating amoeba
- IMPD arrests man after 11-year-old girl reports being assaulted in park