24 August 2023
Noticed lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula ) are in all places within the East Finish of Pittsburgh and alongside our rivers and railroads. One even triggered a snapshot on the movement detection digital camera on the Pitt peregrine nest. Aaarrg!
Proper now, whereas the invasion is getting worse by the day, it’s arduous to think about a time with out them however that day will come. The bugs have each day, seasonal and annual cycles and their inhabitants development goes down, based mostly on what occurred in japanese PA the place they had been first detected. Let’s have a look.
Day by day dispersal, nightly roost. Through the day grownup lanternflies disperse to the sky however at nightfall they land on buildings and bushes to “roost” in a single day. Nightfall is an disagreeable time of day as they combination close to us however it’s a superb alternative to catch them with a water bottle (video exhibits how).
Seasonal disappearance of adults in late fall. Noticed lanternfly adults mate and lay eggs in late summer season and fall. Winged adults began to look in July in Pittsburgh however they didn’t attain a crescendo till mid-August. They’ll be current in September and October and fully die off on the first frost. I count on their presence to taper earlier than they disappear.
I’ve not been capable of finding out if the people die shortly after mating and laying eggs but when so the inhabitants would taper shortly. I’ll know extra in November.
Invasion lasts two to 3 years based mostly on expertise in Japanese PA.
Lanternflies had been a plague in Berks County(*) in 2018 and 2019 however by 2021 they had been arduous to seek out. That 12 months the Studying Eagle wrote “The place have all of the noticed lanternflies gone?“
Equally the bugs plagued Philadelphia in 2020 however experiences went down 95% in 2022 and this month the Philadelphia Inquirer asks Ought to we nonetheless care about noticed lanternflies in 2023? and What do you have to do in the event you see noticed lanternflies?
Discover that Philadelphia is saying “IF you see noticed lanternflies,” not “WHEN you see noticed lanternflies!”
Primarily based on these experiences I’d say the infestation lasts two to 3 years after which drops to an unremarkable degree. It appears to be a bell curve.
The Pittsburgh space has had noticed lanternflies since 2020. This summer season we’re within the first plague 12 months (12 months label 5). Subsequent summer season will probably be dangerous, too, however by 2025 or 2026 they’ll be just about gone.
This, too, shall cross.
(*) Berks County in 2014 is the placement the place noticed lanternflies had been first recognized within the U.S. again.
(photograph by Kate St. John and from the Nationwide Aviary snapshot digital camera at Univ. of Pittsburgh, graph by Kate St. John)
