The connections, that advancements in technology and transportation have made, make the 21st century world infinitely faster in almost every way, something AP Human Geography has drilled into my mind. While this has improved the world we live in, our connected world has created numerous, almost insurmountable, problems. I have always been fascinated with why the world is the way it is and I often find myself delving into the natural world, mostly the local woods, parks, and streams. Because of this, when a new face showed up in my backyard, both figuratively and literally, I became a little concerned. This new pest was the Spotted Lanternfly, a species of insect that poses a major danger to Pennsylvania.
Opening a Can of Worms
The Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula, was first sighted in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014(“Spotted Lanternfly Program Information”). From there it has continued to spread rapidly in the southeastern part of the state, reaching Montgomery County in 2018. The planthopper spreads so rapidly because of its ability to lay eggs on almost any flat surface (“Spotted Lanternfly Program Information”). Combine this with speed of the modern world and you will find a recipe for disaster. As the Spotted Lanternflies found themselves at home in the Pennsylvania ecosystem, they quickly became an invasive species. An invasive species is a species of plant or animal that has taken root in a non-native location and may cause economic, environmental, or humans harm (Hill). The Spotted Lanternfly has the potential to do all three in Pennsylvania.
My Story
I first took notice of the little planthopper in the summer of 2018. Of course I’d heard mention of the insect from neighbors and my retired park ranger grandfather, but it wasn’t tangible to me in my small suburban world. It’s hard to fully appreciate anything until you see it starring you in the face, like the Lanternfly, a problem hidden in plain sight. My first encounter with the insect was a brief skirmish with a young nymph as it jumped on the spade I was using to remove a particularly frustrating weed, I stopped and starred.
Egg Mass 
Stage 1 Instar 
Stage 1 Instar 
First Adult. Tuesday, July 31st, 2018
It turns out what I saw was a nymph in the third instar of development. Instars are developmental stages between birth and molting. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has identified four unique instars of the Spotted Lanternfly (“Spotted Lanternfly”). The first three instars look almost identical, all of them with black bodies and white spots. In the fourth instar the insect develops the red color and larger body of the adult fly. As the insect matures it increases in size, with the fourth instar being almost the same size as the adult. Finally, after molting, the fly develops the characteristic set of brown and red wings, with black spotting.
Once I had confirmed that the mystery insect was indeed a Lanternfly, I returned to the yard and swiftly ended its life along with a few others I found. After this I only saw a few more of the creatures, but in the back of my mind I knew that they were out there. Simply biding their time, waiting to molt and transform into a menace. As the first month of summer concluded, the fly had all but slipped from my mind.
To put it bluntly, this was a big mistake. Soon swarms of Spotted Lanternflies crowded shopping centers, trees, and the football field. The insect had begun an all out war on the local ecosystem. The biggest danger of an invasive species is a loss of habitat (Hill). While the Spotted Lanternfly has not yet caused severe damage to our native ecosystem, it has the potential to inflict major economic wounds. Pennsylvania, having a strong agricultural industry, is a timebomb when a plant sucking invasive species is thrown into the mix. The Spotted Lanternfly poses a danger to 25 plant species in PA, a combination of viticultural products, fruits, and hardwood trees; an industry that all together is worth over $17.134 billion dollars (“Spotted Lanternfly Program Information”). Damaging these industries will put a damper on economic growth in Pennsylvania. This teetering threat, so close to my own heart, became an itch that I felt needed to be scratched by more than just the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Penn State Cooperative Extension.
What could I do? Traps?
How could I make a difference? With these questions I set off. My first instinct was to kill as many of the insects as possible. The Philadelphia Premium outlets, off of 422, had droves both flying and hopping, making a mess. After an hour of casually walking around swatting Lanternflies, my corpse count reached 154. However, I knew that only swatting the adults wouldn’t solve the problem. There were simply too many of them to kill in one blow. (When I started this project I began by brainstorming ideas). First it was all about the trap. How could I catch and kill as many nuisance insects as possible. I sketched out a few designs, but most ended up looking like other fly catchers that already existed.
Egg Scraping
As I attempted to universalize fly traps, I continued to research. I soon realized that simply killing the Spotted Lanternflies wouldn’t be enough. Maybe I could destroy their eggs. When I communicated with the Master Gardeners at the Montgomery County Penn State extension office they recommended egg scraping. In basic terms: slash and burn, destroying the eggs before they could hatch, preventing a mess. However, as with killing adults you can’t get them all, allowing the continuation of the cycle. What I really needed was another method, a way to kill the bugs after they hatched, but before they could lay more eggs. The Master Gardeners, suggested wrapping trees with sticky tape or tree banding. The issue then became what trees to band. In brief, as many trees as possible, but there are some prime targets.
Tree Banding
The Tree of Heaven is the tree most commonly associated with the Spotted Lanternfly. The tree, native to central China and Taiwan and introduced to Pennsylvania in 1784, is an invasive species the same as the pest that feeds off it(Fryer). These trees, once properly prepared, become trap trees fit to demolish hundreds of flies. While trap trees work, Spotted Lanternflies will still feed on other trees, allowing Sooty Mold to grow, killing the trees (“Spotted Lanternfly”). This make mass tree banding a necessary action against the Spotted Lanternfly. This method has the capability to inflict massive casualties and would be effective in open areas with many trees, for example the Perkiomen Valley High School campus. With this information I am moving toward running banding tests, to measure the effectiveness and hazards, on campus.
Fungi
In the final days of this project I was gifted insight into another potential cure for the plague of the Spotted Lanternfly. A biological pathogen, something that I had mused about when beginning this project. I had imagined creating a vector virus that could wipe out the Spotted Lanternfly quickly and easily, but never really imagined this possible. Be that as it may this pathogen comes in the form of two fungi. The fungi Batkoa major and Beauveria bassiana have been found by researchers at Cornell University to kill Spotted Lanternflies (Lewis). This is an exciting new step towards the eradication of the insect.
Beauveria bassiana 
Beauveria bassiana on cabbage fly 
B. major on SPLF
In the end my efforts this year have fallen short. The actions that I have succeeded in taking have come to late in the school year for completion by its end. However, I plan to continue to work at this problem as the years go on, hopefully until the Spotted Lanternfly has run its course and gone from our ecosystem.
Further Reading
Fryer, Janet L. “Ailanthus Altissima.” Ailanthus Altissima, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, 2010, www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/ailalt/all.html.
Hill, Jacob. “Invasive Species: How They Affect the Environment.” EnvironmentalScience.org, 23 Feb. 2015, www.environmentalscience.org/invasive-species.
Lewis, Jim. “Researchers Find 2 Fungi Killed Spotted Lanternflies in Berks.” Reading Eagle, Reading Eagle, 1 May 2019, www.readingeagle.com/news/article/researchers-find-2-fungi-killed-spotted-lanternflies-in-berks?fbclid=IwAR1tX7k1rXgSHupAPzFCRvE3ly7wnyygJVF3bki3YA4gPvS37dKJNCvj_B0.
“Pennsylvania Wine Fact Sheet.” Pennsylvaniawine.com, The Pennsylvania Wine Association, pennsylvaniawine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/PressSheet2016_FNL.pdf.
Reading Eagle. “What You Need to Know about the Spotted Lanternfly Invasion.” Reading Eagle, Reading Eagle, 9 Oct. 2018, www.readingeagle.com/news/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-spotted-lanternfly.
Redding, Russell C. “NOTICES.” PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 18-968>, 5 May 2018, 9:00 AM, www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol48/48-21/825.html.
“Spotted Lanternfly.” Penn State Extension, Pennsylvania State University, 2018, extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly.
“Spotted Lanternfly Program Information.” Quarantine, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 2019, www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/PlantIndustry/Entomology/spotted_lanternfly/program-information/Pages/default.aspx.
A Moment on Pause 