spotted lantern flies

greg setter

greg setter

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Any other mid-Atlantic people have these this year? They started showing up in South Jersey about 2 years ago, and my home is a hot spot this summer. I found out they were attracted to grapevines when I started seeing these little black bugs with white spots that turned out to be the nymphs. Those then turn into little red bugs with white spots for the next stage. Didn't know a way to control them to a few weeks ago when they started hatching into the adults. These things can really jump, you really can't hardly grab them to squish 'em. But the soap and water in the spray bottle does in fact work. It takes the adults a little while to croak, but the nymphs drop quick. I've burned out a few leaves, but my grapes are ripe now anyway, so that doesn't matter to me. That's the only downside to using that mixture. I'm using about 1/4 liquid soap and 3/4 water. I've gotten pretty good at it, can even get them on the wing sometimes now.
 
Thats good to know, I haven't seen any here,.. yet...
I use a similar soap mix for stink bugs, except it also has white vinegar in it. Works very well.
 
They've officially made it to CT. We have warnings at work for forestry, but more of an agricultural pest. They love hops and grapes, but also wreck most fruit trees and berries. Good to control them, but seems like a potential future problem for years.

Another invasive gift from Asia. Point of interest, they inherited poison ivy from us. Can't imagine having that run amok. At least invasive plants don't make me swell up and itch for months.
 
haven't seen any reports of them this year -

but they have been found in parts of NY's Finger Lakes wine region the two previous years

raising big concerns over their love of grape vines

but I always wonder how many there are in a rural area before one gets seen
 
Yes. Have them in central NJ. Monmouth county. Saw one on Saturday while scouting 40 miles west of my home. After a hot day went to the beach for a swim and killed one that landed on my beach chair! I would say there here to stay
 
Since it was first noticed in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014, the spotted lanternfly?a one-inch-long plant hopper that resembles a moth and is native to China?has been wreaking havoc on East Coast lumber, tree fruit and wine industries. It has spread to at least 26 counties in Pennsylvania, as well as parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and New York State.
The invasive, plant-killing insects are known to lay their eggs on almost any surface, including vehicle exteriors. These egg masses ?are most concerning because they can go very far by hitchhiking,? says Maureen Tang, a chemical and biological engineer at Drexel University. Tang is coordinating a project that asks the public to help halt the lanternfly?s spread: anyone who spots an egg mass can submit photographs, with which Tang?s team will train a sophisticated algorithm that scanning devices can use to search for the eggs. (You can contribute images here.)
Text is credited to Scientific American -
 
Thanks Randy. Penn State also has some good info on this subject. My understanding is that they are thought to have come in a shipment of cut stone from Viet Nam. It must be nice stone to ship that far. If you see one, you'll know what it is from the bright red that shows on the wing in flight. You've never seen anything else like it. I think I've killed 3-500 off of my two grape vines in the last month. I hunt them 4 times a day. It's taking a toll on the leaves, but I think it's worth he effort. And the grapes came in very nice, and they don't bother the actual berry. I looked all last winter for egg masses around my property and didn't see any, but these came from somewhere. I have a nice black walnut in my backyard and don't want them getting on that tree. Now that I know what to do I think I can control them on the vines.
The adults can travel too. A friend of mine told me a story last week about one saw on his hood after he left work one day, and 30 miles later when he arrived home, it was still there on the paint.
 
Greg:

I also live in South Jersey and the Lanterns took a liking to a maple tree in our back yard. My wife noticed the black mites and the red/white version in early July. They were climbing the tree trunk. We took some duct tape, wrapped the trunk about five feet up until the tape got a good grip and then reversed it so the sticky side was out. We had about a 12 inch width of the tape around the trunk. That kept them from getting any higher and then we started spraying them multiple times a day. We killed hundreds with the spray and had to change the tape three times due to all the ones it was catching. I see very few of the adults with the wings around the tree now so it appears the wife and I fought the good fight.

I don't recall them last summer. Surprising how all of a sudden they appear. It was an onslaught.

Regards

Dave
 
If your soap and water mix is tearing up your plants, it is probably too strong. Look at getting some insecticidal soap concentrate and mixing to their instructions. It should be better on the plants and not cause too much damage.

Box stores and garden centers have it, it will be fairly inexpensive. Might be in the organic section. Amazon has it as well.
 
Thanks Tod, I'm sure you are right about this. I'm going to do that for next year. I have gone very heavy on the soap because I wanted to make sure I got them this year, and my grapes were already well developed. But the leaves that have been soaked a few times are paying the price. I'm not worried about the vine itself, growth has continued and I rarely find them on this years growth of new vines, I would say 95% of the ones I find are on the old vine. I'm pretty convinced that they home in on the grape vine, as I haven't found very many anywhere else on my property. I have also watched ones that I have sprayed which then jumped off crawl back to the vine. I have suspected this for a while as I find many low on the vine working their way up.This has been a learning year, and for next spring I can get on them early-with some insecticidal soap. I have also not found them on my fig trees, one of which is right next to one of my grape vines, although I have a neighbor that told me he has a lot on his. I am getting a lot less now than I was two weeks ago.
 
Insecticidal soap shouldn?t burn the foliage, but can at times when it is really hot and dry. It will not give you instant knockdown on the bugs, rather they will die when the soap breaks down their waterproof layer in a day or two and they dry out. If you want instant knockdown a synthetic pyrethroid in a spray bottle will get you that (also widely available at garden centers).
 
The mix I use for stink bugs only has about 1/4 cup or less, I just make it by eye now, it works even at the lesser amounts, The mix also has white vinegar in it, again by eye, not sure what the vinegar adds to the mix, I'm guessing the soap alone is what does the deed.
 
Tod, thanks again. I don't have to see them croak, and I will go with the insecticidal soap, I don't like using insecticides (or herbicides) much outside of some ant gel once in a while. Penn State Extension recommends the same compound you mentioned.
 
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