Why the spotted lanternfly must die

[marmar]

(Salon) Like many people, I try to avoid killing insects or spiders unless it is absolutely necessary. Yet according to officials, this nonviolent stance towards insects could end up being a threat to the ecosystem of the Northeast. Indeed, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is asking citizens to declare all-out war on one particular insect: the spotted lanternfly. Dispensing with any pretense of bureaucratic detachment, the state's website is admirably blunt:

"Kill it! Squash it, smash it...just get rid of it."

In areas of Pennsylvania like Northampton County (where I live), spotted lanternfly are not hard to find. Despite being only an inch long, the moth-like insect has a beautiful pattern once it spreads its wings. You are greeted with bright red and black spots, similar to a ladybug shell, in sharp contrast to the drab gray, yellow and black-and-white patterns that cover the rest of it. It is hardly the most memorable insect, but it does make an impression.

More to the point, they are everywhere. And if they take over the American northeast, it is going to be a very, very big deal.

"If they go unchecked, they will continue to spread throughout the American northeast as well as to other regions of the US and also potentially to other countries as well," Julie Urban, an associate research professor of entomology at Penn State University, told Salon by email. Urban is the author of "Perspective: Shedding light on spotted lanternfly impacts in the USA," a scholarly article in Pest Management Science that offered projections on what will occur if spotted lanternfly continue to spread through the region. Both in the article and while speaking with Salon, Urban detailed how spotted lanternfly could destroy both lives and the landscape. One reason is that of the two plants that spotted lantern flies have been documented to kill via feeding, one of them — grapes — is a vital crop. ..........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/09/03/spotted-lanternfly-consequences-invasion/

[SledDriver]

1. Countdown until there are anti-masker and anti-vax types coming out in support

"Save the spotted lanternfly" "My trees My choice" That kind of thing.