Hannah Koch (284)
Staff Writer

Sometime around the beginning of the pandemic, I went on a hike in Fairmount Park. I came upon a section of solitary fence next to the trail I was walking along, the surface covered in the black and red nymphs of the spotted lanternfly. I had just learned about these insects at that time and knew them as an invasive species. They were swarming up and down the lengths of the wood, all at different stages of growth. I probably spent an hour there, solely focused on squishing the bugs, but more would appear to replace the ones that I had killed, so I was forced to give up.

That was around the same time that the government was sanctioning people to stomp on these annoying pests. Now, every time I pass that same bit of fence, it’s entirely void of insects except for a few lonely carpenter ants. So where exactly did all of the spotted lanternflies go, especially considering that they were such a large problem no more than four years ago?

Experts are torn on this question. According to the Guardian, spotted lanternfly reports have been dropping in the areas where they have been established for the longest periods of time, mainly in sections of southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. However, this population data is not definitive as it relies on individuals notifying the proper scientific authorities about sightings, which is not always guaranteed.

With the first appearances of spotted lanternflies in the U.S. occurring around 2014, it has been a multi-year long fight to quell the invasive insect. These bugs primarily feed on the sap of another invasive species, the tree of heaven, but they are known to infest native plants as well, depleting the trees of nutrients and leaving behind a sticky “honeydew” which promotes the growth of mold that is detrimental to these plants.

From personal experience, it seems likely that there has been a notable decrease in the population of spotted lanternflies in and around the Philadelphia area. However, it is important to stay vigilant. Spotted lanternflies are known to travel quickly, and their local diminishment in population is likely a result of mass migration due to food source depletion. This would entail the infestation of surrounding states that don’t currently deal with spotted lanternflies, making the infestation more widespread. It is crucial for people to continue to play their part in the removal of this invasive species from our local ecosystems by destroying their egg masses and stomping on any nymph or adult they may come across. For more information regarding how you can personally combat the spread of these insects, please visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at aphis. usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/slf.