Adding a finer mesh, like draping cheesecloth over the large-mesh caging, will help keep pollinating insects from contacting the tapes during high bloom times. Large-mesh caging will preclude most songbird and mammal captures. If you are planning to use sticky bands this year, you should build a raised guard of wire or screening around the band to prevent other creatures from getting stuck on them. While this method can successfully capture many SLF nymphs it can also unfortunately occasionally capture birds and other creatures. Many people in SLF infested areas have been using sticky bands wrapped around trees to capture nymphs. Where infestations pose a greater threat, chemical intervention may be appropriate. In this case, it is the role of Master Gardeners to promote safe, legal, and environmentally-sound use of chemicals to closely target the pest while minimizing peripheral damage and risk to the applicator. While many chemicals are effective against SLF, there is concern that overuse of pesticides may have a lasting impact on pollinating insects, butterflies, bees, and other wildlife. Master Gardeners have a two-fold role in addressing the SLF infestation: they promote non-chemical management practices such as scraping of egg masses, swatting, stomping, tree-banding, and hosing with water blasts, to deal with non-threatening, nuisance infestations. To find the Penn State Extension Hotline number for your county, simply type the following into your favorite search engine: "Contact Penn State Extension Master Gardener " or visit this link for a statewide listing of Penn State Extension County Master Gardener Program offices. They are available to speak to audiences of all sizes, by arrangement with the Master Gardener Coordinator in each county. In addition to providing information for those who seek them out, Master Gardeners teach about SLF at scores of fairs, festivals, and public meetings across the state. Master Gardeners also receive specific training to staff county-based Garden Hotlines where anyone may call or email with a garden, plant, or insect query. Master Gardener volunteers routinely receive research updates and advanced training so that they are equipped to help PA residents deal with the SLF infestation. While researchers are at work on multiple fronts to develop safe and effective management strategies, Penn State Extension Master Gardeners have been charged with dissemination of reliable and current information to the general public. Penn State has become the national leader in research and education on the spotted lanternfly, working closely with the Department of Agriculture (PDA) and the U.S. Sooty mold also coats and stains concrete, decks, outdoor furniture, and other surfaces, with the potential to reduce quality of life and outdoor leisure. The mold coats leaf surfaces, compromising photosynthesis and overall plant health and aesthetics. This sugary substrate in turn encourages growth of a black sooty mold. In addition to injury caused by plant feeding, SLF secretes an abundance of sugary waste or honeydew, coating everything beneath its feeding sites. Unlike crop-specific agricultural pests, SLF feeds on at least 75 plant hosts, including landscape trees, grapevines, fruit trees, timber and hops. For most citizens it is a nuisance only, albeit a rather alarming one.įeeding Habits of Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) Further, the insect does not attack structures, does not nest in homes, does not bite or sting, and does not pose a threat to pets or children. Spotted lanternfly can feed on many plants but is not likely to kill landscape trees or shrubs, even with heavy infestations. To see the SLF spread in states surrounding PA, visit the Cornell SLF Distribution Map. These maps show counties where the PA Department of Agriculture (PDA) has confirmed SLF populations and has instituted quarantine regulations to limit the further spread of the insect. The PA Department of Agriculture maintains several maps detailing SLF infestation in Pennsylvania, including an interactive map. In the years since its discovery in Pennsylvania, it has established populations in 51 counties, and has been spotted in 13 other states. This was the first recorded presence of this insect in the Americas. The spotted lanternfly (SLF) is an invasive sap-sucking planthopper from southeast Asia, first discovered in the United States in Berks County in 2014.
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