Effective Strategies for Eliminating Spotted Lanternflies from Your Garden

The spotted lanternfly is an invasive pest that has spread to the United States, South Korea, and Japan. Known to feed on and destroy more than 70 host plant species, it’s a bad omen to notice them anywhere.

If you’ve noticed a spotted bug with a distinctive appearance feasting on fruit and woody trees, it could be a spotted lanternfly. Here are some surefire ways to get rid of the pest, so you can get back to enjoying what nature has to offer.

Understanding the Spotted Lanternfly

Before getting into methods of eliminating the spotted lanternfly, you first need to know about what it is and what it does to help you in your pest control mission.

This rather pretty but havoc-wreaking bug doesn’t sting or bite people or pets, so on the plus side, you don’t have to worry about treating reactions from it. Like some other pests, such as cockroaches, it spreads by people moving with egg-infested items. It peaks during the late summer and early fall, which is when it undergoes a collective flight called swarming. It’s during that short period that it disperses during its adult moth stage to feast on plants in large numbers.

It feeds specifically on the sap of plants, including tree-of-heaven (Chinese sumac), grapevines, birch, willow, black walnut, maple, hops, and stone fruit, costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in wasted crops. Not only does it drain the energy sources of plants, but it leaves behind a sugary fluid waste called honeydew that coats leaves and stems, which attracts other insects and promotes mold growth that is black and sooty in appearance. Plus, the destruction it leaves in its wake of several holes further leaks the plant’s sap. For small-scale homesteaders or farmers, it is devastating.

Spotted Lanternfly Stages: When to Eliminate Them

The insect hatches from egg masses as a nymph. The nymph stage has many immature phases called instars, which are all wingless. After the first instar, which is black with white spots, the other instars have red patches with white spots. The last instar has a red upper body and red wing pads, followed by molting into its adult form of a black head, grayish wings, and black spots. The first, second, and third instars have a wide range of hosts, which eventually narrow down.

Nymphs hatch anywhere from late April to early May. Adults can appear as early as July to mate and lay eggs from late September through the start of winter. You can recognize the presence of spotted lanternflies from egg masses, plant damage, mold growth, and plant death. The best time for finding and destroying egg masses is during the winter through early spring.

Fortunately, most people will notice spotted lanternfly infestations before there’s too much damage. Some of the main ways of eliminating the pest are doing so naturally. Let’s discuss these methods now.

Methods for Getting Rid of Spotted Lanternflies

Adult lanternflies are quick to jump or fly away from any attempt at swatting them, meaning this way of eradication probably won’t work well. Luckily, these insects are not harmful to humans. However, they are detrimental to their non-native environments and should be disposed of. Here are some more efficient ways to get rid of these critters:

• Kill eggs and reduce hosts: This is the first and most important step to go along with any other method. You must scrape the eggs off of the plant surfaces, double-bag them, and throw them away. It’s best if you have alcohol or hand sanitizer in the bags, which will kill the eggs.
• Naturally: Using the spotted lanternfly’s natural predators is a great, non-invasive way of handling the pest by using their position on the food chain against them.
• Homemade spray: Although there are no approved home remedies, a homemade spray is another way to get rid of spotted lanternflies naturally. With a similar logic used for killing the eggs, you must have a chemical that is effective on large numbers. White vinegar or neem oil in a spray bottle kills them on contact.
• Traps: An alternative to homemade spray is using traps. The best traps are those using either neem oil traps or dish soap mixed with vinegar in mason jars.
• Insecticide: When all else fails, you’re going to have to use an insecticide. You’ll want an insecticide that is the least toxic, and that means one that is registered with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for efficacy and safety.

Getting Rid of Spotted Lanternflies For Good

Spotted lanternflies are an invasive pest that damages and even kills the over 70 species of plants they feed on, including flowers, vegetables, crops, and fruit. If you have spotted lanternflies on your land, you will immediately understand the damage they cause and that they’re hard to kill.

It’s important to be able to get rid of them properly so they don’t come back. As a gardener or farmer, the ability to handle pests is essential for preserving your plants. One or more of the aforementioned methods, including naturally, using a homemade spray, or using an insecticide, is sure to help you eliminate the pest once and for all.