Chances are by now you felt some crunch underfoot while running errands, caught a few in your windshield wiper on a drive or encountered hundreds while trying to soak in the sun at the beach.
“We have confirmed populations of spotted lanternfly in every New Jersey county,” a spokesman with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday.
They’ve become so widespread in fact, the state agency is no longer asking residents to report when they see them.
“In the past week, we have said it is no longer necessary to report spotted lanternfly sightings,” the NJDA spokesman said in a statement. “While we appreciate the public’s diligence in reporting the spotted lanternfly sightings, it is no longer necessary to report it to us … That decision was based in part on the thousands of reports we received last year.”
Spotted lanternflies, which are considered invasive insects, feed on the sap of their host plants and leave behind a sugary substance called honeydew that encourages fungal growth and new insects on the weakened plants. While they don’t bite, sting or pose any threat to people or pets, the lanternflies could cause serious damage to cash crops in New Jersey like grapes, hops and ornamental trees, state officials say.
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In June, the insects were tiny black or red-bodied lanternfly nymphs. But now, they have gotten bigger, grown wings and taken to the air to swarm more trees and plants. The same took place last summer and fall here in New Jersey, as well as Pennsylvania, New York and other eastern states.
Residents are advised to squish them.
Specifics on the population of spotted lanternflies and where they are most heavily concentrated in New Jersey were not immediately available, officials at the NJDA said.
Even though the Tree of Heaven is the spotted lanternfly’s main target, these insects can damage or kill more than 70 varieties of trees, shrubs and other plants, according to experts at Rutgers University. Lanternflies also prey on red maple trees, black walnut trees, willow trees and grapevines, posing a potential threat to the wine industry.
Previously, residents were asked to report lanternfly sightings — regardless of the insect’s life stage — so the state could help control and prevent the spread, as well as coordinate where treatment resources could be dedicated.
“The take-home is they are everywhere,” said Anne L. Nielsen, an associate extension specialist in entomology at Rutgers University, adding that the school stopped tracking spotted lanternflies last summer. “There’s some areas and counties, of course, that have higher populations but they’re everywhere.”
Nielsen said university researchers are instead focused on limiting the impact of spotted lanternflies on agriculture in the state.
A spokesman with the NJDA said the state provides a list of treatment options for dealing with the annoying insects at www.badbug.nj.gov. In addition to providing counties treatment reimbursement funds, the NJDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture deploy crews focused on “high priority” areas like airports, railway lines and other major transportation corridors to limit spread, he added.
“With approximately 2 million acres to cover, it’s not possible for our crews to respond to every call,” the spokesman said.
Looking ahead, spotted lanternfly populations are expected to dwindle when they die off after the winter’s first hard frost.
“Until then, the females will lay egg masses that hatch in the spring,” an official with the NJDA said. “There will be a period of a few months where spotted lanternflies will not be visible, but the egg masses can be on almost any surface and extremely difficult to locate.”
During the past few years, spotted lanternflies have been seen in New Jersey and 10 other states — Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Agriculture officials and bug experts have implored people to kill any spotted lanternflies that are seen around homes or businesses, to prevent them from causing damage to trees and plants.
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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @stevenrodasnj.
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