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We don’t know what’s on the spotted lantern fly’s summer playlist, but suspect it includes Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ or other anthems to highways and back roads adventures. The fascinating insect is, after all, nothing but an accomplished hitchhiker. As New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher said Monday, “The spotted lantern fly’s excellent hitchhiking skills on all types of transportation have allowed it to spread…”
Evidence of the Lantern’s wandering paths is in its progression through the Garden State. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture added on Monday five spotted lantern fly quarantine counties – Morris, Monmouth, Middlesex, Essex and Union counties. They join eight counties previously on the list – Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Salem, Somerset and Warren. If you live in a quarantine country, you are asked to check the egg masses, adults, and nymphs of the lantern fly and make sure all items are free of pests before moving them. There is an advisory checklist here, with advice on how to identify all stages of the insect’s life and minimize its movements. The department asks people to check their vehicles before leaving an area, as the spotted lantern has the ability to hitchhike any vehicle for several miles.
The spotted lantern fly, which is currently in the adult stage, will begin to lay its egg masses in September. While the adult cannot survive the winter, the egg masses can – and can produce up to 50 nymphs that hatch in the spring. It is not a threat to humans or pets, but the spotted lantern feeds on about 70 different types of vegetation and can be a bane to farmers and gardeners.
The Agriculture Department asks anyone who sees a spotted lantern to destroy it as much as possible, then go to www.badbug.nj.gov, click on the spotted lantern photo and complete the “report a sighting” form. Residents can also send the address of the observations to [email protected]
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