Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

Adult Spotted Lantern Fly

Da Balmer Sun, Invasive spotted lanternfly’s voracious march south expected to hit Baltimore hard this summer

For some vineyards — and residents — in the Baltimore area, this season could be their first true battle with the insects native to eastern Asia, which are spreading south. They are known to feed on over 70 plant species, including black walnut, red maple and tree of heaven. And when they do pierce trunks and stems to sip on sap, they leave behind damage and stunt growth.

Adult, wings spread

But many wineries are cautiously optimistic that preparations for the siege will lessen the blow.

Over the winter, the Maryland Department of Agriculture eliminated over 40,000 lanternfly egg masses close to vineyards, said Jessica Boyles, who coordinates field operations at the state agriculture department. Nearly half of those egg masses came from Baltimore County’s Boordy Vineyards, which adds up to more than 600,000 eradicated insects.

Nymphs

“That was pretty shocking: To know that they were in there in much greater numbers than we really thought,” said Phineas Deford, vice president of the winery in Hydes. “But we all knew that wouldn’t be the end.”

Local residents will likely start seeing adult spotted lanternflies with their telltale colors — the forewings are pinkish tan with black spots, and the hind wings are mainly red with black spots — in July.

Egg masses

 

But the bugs are already out there in their nymph stage. Small and wingless, the nymphs are initially black with white dots before they molt, and turn red with white specks.

So far this year, the jurisdictions with the most sighting reports are Baltimore City and Baltimore County, followed by Washington County, said Kenton Sumpter, entomologist with the state agriculture department. There have been about 700 reports from around the state. Last year, the tally reached 11,500.

The sighting reports are far from scientific, since they’re submitted voluntarily, but the reports indicate the bugs are likely present.

“The infestation was building in the county last year, and the city had some, but it wasn’t awful,” Sumpter said. “But this year ... they’ve really taken off.”

The guidance is fairly simple: If you see one, smush one. But for the average homeowner, the bugs will be more nuisance than harm. There’s no evidence of them killing trees and plants that populate yards, though they will certainly make themselves at home.

They’ve spread so widely because local predators are unfamiliar with them, but also because the adult bugs are talented hitchhikers, attaching themselves and their eggs to cars, trains and just about anything else they can find. They’ve been detected in states as distant as North Carolina, Ohio and Connecticut.

Scientists have found that praying mantises, birds, spiders and other predators are willing to feed on the lanternfly, and an array of pesticides kill them, though those chemicals also harm good insects, as well. Physical barriers like sticky traps and netting can protect vulnerable plants.

Ideally, as predators and humans attack the lanternfly, their numbers will ebb, similar to the population of invasive brown marmorated stink bugs in the early 2000s, said Mike Raupp, a University of Maryland entomologist who is conducting research on a naturally occurring fungi for use against lanternfly.

“I’m optimistic that Mother Nature has a plan here, as she does with many of these infestations,” Raupp said. “Now, we have the knowledge and the tools. It’s going to be manageable.”

Invasive lanternflies were first spotted in Maryland’s Cecil County in 2018.

Once an invasion like this gets going, there's really no way to stop it. The insects move on their own. You might notice they have wings, and "fly" is part of their common name. The best we can hope for is that some local predator finds them unusually tasty and helps keep them in check. Snakeheads, or Blue Cats, maybe?

But I wonder what dusting them with fentanyl does?