Alright everybody, we did it.
We swatted...
and shocked...
and smushed the invasive spotted lanternfly all summer long
and now that it’s fall we can surely say...
we’re done here.
Mission accomplished.
Right?
No! I'm so sorry!
Unfortunately, it's not under control at all.
So, what the hell are we all doing?
This is Kristie.
I'm the director of The Bug Chicks.
And Jessica.
I am the assistant director of The Bug Chicks.
They’re both entomologists.
But let’s back up a second
because if you’re not in the US
this whole video so far is kind of... unhinged.
Spotted lanternflies are a type of insect that’s native to parts of Asia.
They're actually really beautiful.
The adults have spotted wings with a bright red underwing.
They’re super easy to recognize
and on some level: harmless.
They don’t sting or bite
and in their native habitat their population is controlled
by various predators.
But when they're transported far away from where they have evolved
then that's where we run into problems.
We don't have natural enemies to keep it under control.
So their populations can just explode, which is what we're seeing right now.
Egg masses on a shipment of stone
are likely what brought the insect to the US in 2012.
But they were first found in Eastern Pennsylvania in 2014.
At that time, researchers tried to contain the population
and potentially wipe it out entirely.
The state quarantined the area
requiring all businesses to have a spotted lanternfly compliance permit
to ensure they weren't carrying the bugs around.
And told people to kill them on sight.
Many researchers were initially concerned these bugs
would destroy native forests because they feed on tree sap.
They kind of jam these little pokey mouth parts called rostrums into a plant
which is filled with sap and nutrients and they slurp it up.
Also...
Their poo is basically sugar water.
That can lead to something called sooty mold
which isn't harmful in and of itself to people.
But it sort of tamps down on photosynthesis.
So the plants have to work harder to survive.
Fortunately, the worst case scenario didn’t come true.
Lanternflies haven’t wiped out full forests.
Instead, the biggest losses are to agriculture.
Specifically orchards and vineyards.
Vineyards in Pennsylvania have been hardest hit so far
with some reporting up to a 90% loss.
And now... they’ve spread.
As of late 2022, spotted lanternflies have been reported in 14 states.
Thus the widespread summer-murder-campaign on social media.
At this point, it's too late to stop them completely.
Eradication is not on the docket anymore.
We missed that boat.
That ship sailed.
And so now it's about mitigation and management and control.
Over time, some expect them to reach most of the country
eventually spreading to places like California
where they could threaten a multi-billion dollar fruit industry.
Though, it could take them a few years to get there.
Thankfully, lanternflies don’t live very long
and can only move about 4 miles in their entire lives.
Unless...
they hitch a ride.
Which means the biggest culprit responsible for this rapid spread
is us...
in more ways than one.
Even before spotted lanternflies came to the US
damage humans have done to native ecosystems
set the stage for them to thrive.
One example of this is their favorite tree to feed on: the tree of heaven.
And yes.
It’s also highly invasive.
I mean, you want to talk about survivors.
This plant, you cut it down and it's like, "oh, yeah?"
This tree was brought to the US from China over 200 years ago.
It thrives in urban environments and areas with little vegetation.
Like along railroads or highways where it can act as a hotel
for lanternflies as they make their way across the US.
So, what now?
Recently, predators like praying mantis
have started stepping in to help level out the numbers.
Other bugs like garden spiders, hornets, and wheel bugs
have also been seen attacking spotted lanternflies.
With the help of birds and other insects, over time
populations will likely taper off to more manageable levels.
For now, the best method to manage spotted lanternfly populations
is simply to keep crushing them.
Don’t resort to harsher methods like home-made pesticides or fire.
And when traveling, make sure to check your car for stray bugs or egg masses.
Any of the ones that you didn't smack down in the summer
have made it and they are right now, like literally right now
they're laying eggs on any flat surface that they can and they will overwinter
and then hatch out in the spring and the whole system starts all over again.
If you see an egg mass, scraping it into a bag with alcohol effectively kills it.
But yeah, the scraping, the stomping.
No flamethrowers.
When we zoom out from just spotted lanternfly
we live in a world with potentially 4 million species of insect.
And they are the decomposers, they are the pollinators.
They are the recyclers of our world.
And they create healthy soils that grow the trees.
They are integral to every system on our planet.
The real impact of spotted lanternflies on this system
might not be measurable yet.
Ecosystems are wildly complicated
and introducing a new species can have impacts we’d never expect...
on other bugs, on birds that eat bugs, on future flora development.
In the meantime, slowing down their spread
could help researchers devise new ways to eliminate the bug safely.
And give our native ecosystem what it needs:
time to catch up.
They don't sting or bite.
Yea, Kim, they don't sting or bite so there's nothing to be afraid of.
Come on--AH!
Now I'm going to feel bad about killing you
because I have an emotional attachment to you.
And you're gonna direct, you tell me, "now!"