Big and bright, an adult spotted lanternfly is an insect that will grab most New Englanders’ attention.
This exotic planthopper can grow to be 1 inch long and one-half inch wide. When sitting, a spotted lanternfly appears “dusky brown with black spots, but when it flies, you’ll see brown wings, red under wings and black and yellow bodies,” said Victoria Smith, Connecticut’s state entomologist. “It's quite a pretty insect.”
It’s also a potentially devastating invasive pest, spawning “squish it” campaigns from officials across several states looking to slow the insect’s spread and limit its harm to agricultural crops.
Since spotted lanternflies were first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014, it has become established in 17 states as far north as New York and as far south as North Carolina.
In Connecticut, the first spotted lanternfly was detected in 2018. Since then, the insect native to Asia, has spread to all eight counties.
There has been a lot of panic over this insect, Smith said, because spotted lanternflies are known to feed on crops.
But in Connecticut so far, the damage seems limited. “We have not had any reports of crop damage,” she said, noting “very minimal damage to fleshy vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.”
Still, Smith said one crop could be a target: grapes. "These things will kill an unmanaged vineyard in two to three years," she said.
Grapes are attractive to spotted lanternflies because the insects feed on plant sap using a piercing-sucking mouthpart. According to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, research suggests the high fluid pressure within the cell walls of grapes makes them an ideal target.
“You’re going to have to treat your vineyards with pesticides,” Smith said. She also said the invasive plant, tree of heaven, should be cleared out because it is one of the bug’s favorite host plants.
Spotted lanternflies will die out after the first hard freeze of the year, but one insect can lay dozens of eggs in the fall, which can survive winter and be ready to hatch next spring.
