Gwendolyn Glenn: With a brown, black and red dotted pattern on its wings and a yellow abdomen, the spotted lanternfly is visually striking, but can wreak havoc on the environment. The invasive insect from Asia was found in the United States eight years ago and in North Carolina for the first time last week in Kernersville. The spotted lantern is known to kill grapevines, and it also feeds on more than 100 species of plants, including hops, fruit trees, native trees and popular plants used for landscaping. Here to talk with us about this pesky bug is Dr. Matt Bertone, the director and diagnostic entomologist with the North Carolina State University Plant Disease and Insect Clinic. Thanks for joining us.
Dr. Matt Bertone: Sure thing.
Glenn: So let's start with how large is the population of the spotted lanternfly in Kernersville and is it spreading to other areas?
Bertone: It is a pretty well-established population. It's probably been there for over a year, maybe two or so.
Glenn: Now, I was reading that it was a five-mile radius. Is that what you're hearing as well?
Bertone: That sounds about correct.
Glenn: And is it spreading to other areas?
Bertone: Well, they do move and they can fly pretty well. So it could spread from that area. And of course, the populations up in the northeast are also -- can be -- spreading.
Glenn: Well, what can you tell us about the infestation in Kernersville? Is it affecting plant life at this point?
Bertone: They can attain huge populations. They will affect lots of different plants. We don't know how much they're going to affect the plants, but they're definitely a huge nuisance and can cause distress on those plants and people.
Glenn: Where are people are seeing them? And are they poisonous to people?
Bertone: They are not dangerous to people directly. They feed on the sap of plants. So they're not dangerous to humans. They don't bite humans that are poisonous, although they probably taste bad. But I wouldn't suggest eating them anyway. What happens, though, is that by feeding on these plants, they get a lot of water and sugar, which they inject as honeydew, which gets all sticky, all over cars and other objects out in yards. It causes black sooty mold to grow, which is really gross looking.
Glenn: Any idea how they got to the U.S. in the first place and also in North Carolina?
Bertone: I think they're still trying to figure out the North Carolina population, although it could be from trains or other vehicles. We think also they got to the U.S. in that these insects don't lay their eggs just on trees, but they also lay their eggs masses on inanimate objects like rocks and cars and trains. And so if an egg mass is laid somewhere, those eggs hatch, the young can find lots of plants to feed on because they feed on a lot of different types of plants. And then you build a population from that.
Glenn: Well, what's being done to eradicate them and can they be eradicated?
Bertone: Department of Agriculture and other folks, regulatory folks, are going out to the site, monitoring. They're looking for the Tree of Heaven, which is the main host. It's a non-native tree in the U.S. It's actually a pretty invasive and noxious tree. And this is the plant that they really prefer. So there are some different types of strategies for using that tree, either cutting it down in an area or treating those trees with pesticides that will then attract the insects and then kill them.
Glenn: Are those trees in North Carolina that you mentioned?
Bertone: They are.
Glenn: Now, are they -- from what you're saying, it sounds like that their numbers will multiply. And what's your prediction in terms of the future of them in North Carolina?
Bertone: I don't have much good to say about it just because we know it's established well in the northeast and there's no way of eradicating it now. The insect is in the U.S. and it will be here basically forever unless something drastic happens, like a disease goes through and wipes them all out, which is probably not going to happen. Unfortunately, there are not very many options for a homeowner to completely rid their area of them once they come in.
Glenn: And are they year-round?
Bertone: They have one generation per year and in the winter they'll basically all die out except for the eggs.
Glenn: Matt Bertone is the director and diagnostic entomologist with the North Carolina University Plant Disease and Insect Clinic.
