Invasive, dangerous Spotted Lanternfly found in Cuyahoga County

CLEVELAND, Ohio-- The Ohio Department of Agriculture has uncovered a population of the invasive species Spotted Lanternfly on Cleveland’s East Side.

A tree care professional found the colorful-winged insect, which cause significant issues for the grape and wine industry, and notified the state. State plant pest instructors confirmed a group of living, adult Lanternflies between East 56th and East 55th streets, Euclid and Carnegie avenues. Another inspector with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an agency under the USDA, discovered another population between Woodland and Holton avenues, East 71st and East 86th streets.

The bug is native to China, but was discovered in the United States in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014, possibly imported in wood products. It was found in Mingo Junction, Ohio, in 2020.

“The insect is fond of grapevines, fruit trees, hops, blueberry, oak, pine, poplar, and walnut,” the ODA said in a news release. “Adult (Spotted Lanternfly) are attracted to the invasive Ailanthus tree, also known as tree-of-heaven, while nymphs feed on a wide range of hosts.”

Adults and nymphs feed on stems and leaves, which can lead to sap bleeding and cause issues with photosynthesis, causing plans to die eventually.

State agencies, including the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio State University Extension, are conducting surveys and outreach, along with insect trapping.

September through November happens to be the best time to catch one of these insects flying around.

A Lanternfly typically hatches toward the end of spring and goes through four nymph stages before reaching adulthood. Around midsummer, the nymph can be seen with a red body, at almost a half-inch in size, with black stripes and white dots. The fly reaches the adult stage by late summer through November, becoming only slightly larger--roughly one inch in size-- complete with black bodies and brightly colored wings.

Meghan Harshbarger, a spokeswoman for Ohio Department of Agriculture, said growers should be vigilant in scouting for the Lanternflies on and around their farms and familiarizing themselves with the mitigation tools and other control measures to protect their crops.

“University extension programs can be a good resource to help find best management practices for growers,” Harshbarger said.