As if we didn’t have enough on our collective plate, the interaction of humans and nature has served up a surfeit of sap-sucking planthoppers whose dining and excretory habits pose a threat to the forests and fields we hold dear. All of a sudden – or so it seemed – gobs of spotted lanternflies were popping up all over town this summer, colorful harbingers of sooty mold and excess stress on vineyards, orchards and hardwoods.

The inch-long red and black bugs were first spotted in the continental US back in 2014 and were labeled invasive in 2022, having claimed much of the Northeast as their turf. They can’t fly very far, and are believed to have gotten to the U.S. from their original Chinese and Vietnamese territory when their egg masses hitchhiked on imported cargo from those ports and/or from Japan and South Korea, where they’d already invaded a few years earlier. They were first spotted in Ulster County in 2019.

Let’s get one thing straight right away. Though the spotted lanternflies’ preferred host is Ailanthus altissima, the Tree of Heaven, eliminating every Tree of Heaven in the neighborhood won’t do a blessed bit of good and might even make matters worse. Spotted lanternflies are fickle diners who are known to feed on the sap of 173 different plant species worldwide, weakening the plant and leaving it vulnerable to disease. At least the ones feeding on your local Trees of Heaven are leaving the apple orchard alone. Wherever they may dine, it’s their excrement, called honeydew, that causes trouble by blocking photosynthesis and promoting the growth of black mold.

Experts encourage eliminating as many of the insects as you can. "People can certainly kill them if they see them,” says Courtney Churchill, Master Gardener Coordinator and Community Horticulture Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County. “This time of year, they are about to lay eggs and the eggs will overwinter and hatch in the spring, which will result in more spotted lanternflies.”

So, keep an eye out for the eggs, which the flies will lay on just about any hard outdoor surface – trees, outdoor furniture, vehicles. Egg masses are about 1 to 1.5 inches in length, camouflaged in mud-brown goo that dries and cracks as it ages. Each egg mass you eliminate – preferably, say the experts, by scraping the mass into a bag or jar containing rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer – means 30-50 fewer lanternflies next spring, and feels a bit less personal than looking Mini-Mothra in the eye as you smush. There are also species-specific traps available. Pesticides, of course, even neem oil, will take out beneficial insect species right along with the lanternfly population.

Natural predators such as birds, fish, frogs, and spiders are learning that lanternflies make a tasty snack – apparently, your reporter has not tested this nor is it recommended. They may increasingly help control the spotted lanternfly population, presuming they don’t get poisoned by pesticides first. And despite their large population and hitchhiking skills, spotted lanternfly numbers are expected to subside as predation, parasites and disease set in. A “boom and bust” cycle tends to occur with most insect species, and some invasives are particularly vulnerable.

Meanwhile, every bit of eradication we can do will help. It’s advisable to check vehicles, firewood and whatever else you may be traveling with for egg masses to avoid transporting the little buggers and spreading them even more widely. For more help and information about lanternfly issues, you can reach out to Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Horticulture Hotline at 845-340-DIRT (3478).