Invasive Lanternflies
We’ve mentioned this before, but with the spotted lanternfly, what’s the news with that? Is it going to cause any problems in this area?
We haven’t heard anything yet that I’m aware of. If it does make it this way, hopefully we have some time to take action sooner than later and the preventative measures are in place.
I did see that there are actually some Ohio counties that are quarantined because of it, but nothing has popped up. I think Columbiana is the closest to us, but they really haven’t seen any. That’s good.
Now if somebody sees one, what should we do? You can report it, but then also get rid of it. And if you see their egg masses, it’s good to get rid of them as well. But definitely report it, because they definitely want to track it and see where it’s going, and what they can do to help stop the spread of it. If you go to the ODNR website, they have info on there about it.
That’s always good to know because I know some people get concerned about it, aren’t sure exactly what to do. They’re not that hard to get rid of. But catching it at the point where before it starts to become a problem, that’s the biggest thing is getting it soon enough and preventing. As far as homeowners and that kind of thing, for our personal crops, we don’t have to worry about it so much as bigger crops and that kind of thing. We obviously want to be proactive about it.
I think one of their downfalls is their size. They are so big and colorful, that we’re going to be able to see them quicker than you would a spider mite or something very, very tiny. They don’t hurt you or bite you or anything like that, they’re just more of a nuisance to trees and things.
Basically, when they go to lay their eggs, they bore holes into the tree. And whatever they secrete, the tree cannot close back up and heal that wound. The tree just bleeds to death, essentially. If you’ve never seen what one looks like, just look above at the cover picture, or google the Spotted Lanternfly. You’ll see what they look like.
The only good thing about them is their favorite tree is the tree of heaven, which is an extremely invasive species. It kind of helps with that a little bit. That is, something we should probably keep in mind. The tree of heaven, if you have it around, or if you have it growing in your yard, which most people tend to get rid of it anyway because it is a weed. But if you can get rid of it, that will help keep the population down too.
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