![]() “New York Ag and Markets and Integrated Pest Management have been working with the growers there to prevent that kind of damage. “The Hudson Valley is an important grape-growing region of the state,” said Eshenaur. The state is working with vineyard owners to determine how to best mitigate infestations through pesticides if necessary. Eshenaur said the spotted lanternfly is damaging grape vines in such a way that makes them less capable of surviving the winter. ![]() For the most part, they aren’t damaging trees en masse, with one exception: the tree of heaven, the spotted lanternfly’s top feeding choice.Īlso of concern: grape crops. Spotted lanternflies don’t eat trees or leaves they suck the sap from the trees. “It wouldn’t be my honey of choice,” he said. Eshenaur said in Pennsylvania, some beekeepers are marketing that honey as special “spotted lanternfly honey.” Eshenaur tried some at a meeting in Pennsylvania. That, in turn, affects the flavor of their honey. Not only does that mean more bees buzzing in places where you’re trying to relax, but bees are actually attracted to eating the honeydew over the flower nectar they should be seeking out themselves. The sweet and sticky substance can cause damage, can be slippery when wet and attracts bees. Moreover, they excrete “honeydew,” a sweet substance that, when spotted lanternfly populations are high, can get on just about everything: porches, sidewalks, picnic tables, cars. They’re rather large and while they don’t have amazing flying skills, they do hop and when they’re copious, they can be annoying. ![]() Why do we need to pay attention to this growing infestation?Īlthough they don’t bite, spotted lanternflies are a nuisance. And that’s where state officials want the public to help. But they’re here, and they’re laying eggs. As for how they’ll manifest in the Hudson Valley and how many people will encounter them, it remains to be seen. Eshenaur said it’s likely the city will see even more next year. In New York City in recent weeks, they seem to be everywhere - sidewalks on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, for example, are covered in them. They were recently found in Buffalo, where they arrived, Eshenaur believes, probably by train. But they’re aided by astute hitchhiking skills. On their own, spotted lanternflies can migrate about four miles per year. Brian Eshenaur, senior extension associate and invasive species specialist for Cornell University’s New York State Integrated Pest Management Program, said this week that Putnam, Dutchess, and Sullivan counties are likely to be added to that list in the short term.Įshenaur said the spotted lanternfly’s presence in the Hudson Valley is mostly a natural progression north as the population built up in New York City. In recent weeks, it has officially been classified as present in Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Ulster counties. It came to the United States from Asia, was first spotted in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since become ubiquitous there, in New Jersey, on parts of Long Island and in New York City. The spotted lanternfly is an invasive plant hopper. The spotted lanternfly is moving into the Hudson Valley and upstate New York, and officials are asking for the public’s help in slowing its spread via destroying the insects themselves as well as their eggs, which will be laid in the coming months. The spotted lanternfly, pictured here in Pennsylvania where it was first discovered in the United States, can devastate a wide range of crops that fuel the New York's agricultural economy, including grapes, apples, hops and maple.
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