In 2014 , a visually sensational fly insect appear in Berks County , Pennsylvania , and promptly began wreak mayhem on the wall plant life . It was the spotty lanternfly , indigenous to Asia , and it soon shore on more than one list of the most destructiveinvasive insects .
This 1 - inch - long agent of chaos is so problematic in part because it is n’t particular : It ’ll spread on sap from any of about 70 plant species , leaving behind a sappy substance of its own bed as “ honeydew . ” This propagates black mould , which can severely damageplants . And since spotted lanternflies breed prolifically — they canlaynearly 200 egg masses on just one plant or other surfaces — they model a serious threat to crops .
“ The economical impingement could total in the hundreds of millions of clam and hundreds of thousands of business for those in the grapes , orchard apple tree , hops , and hardwood industries , ” the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculturewarns .
They ’re also just apparently annoying , in the same way that swarms ofcicadasor other technically harmless - to - humansinsectsare . And you do n’t need to curb your impulse to kill a spotted lanternfly — in fact , the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is practically begging you to snuff out its life : “ Kill it ! Squash it , smash it … just get rid of it . ” You should then either report itonlineor by call 1 - 888 - 4BADFLY .
And no , these bad fly front have n’t confined their hijinks to a individual state . AsSmithsonianreports , they ’ve now ventured across the Northeast — and other state of matter are inquire people to drink down the blighter , too . New Jersey , for model , rolled out a charmingcampaignencouraging people to “ Join the fight , wash up the hemipteran ! Stomp it out ! ” Ohio is tell apart multitude to keep an eye out for nut masses on tree shorts , patio furniture , and other categoric surfaces , to be genuflect off and submerged in alcohol or hand sanitizer ( or at least twofold - bagged and flip in the shabu ) . accord to the Ohio Department of Agriculture , unexampled egg mess “ have a greyish mud - like covering which can take on a dry cracked appearing over time , ” while older 1 are in rows of “ dark-brown seed - like deposit ” [ PDF ] .
[ h / tSmithsonian ]
