US scientists sound alarm over invasive lanternflies threatening crops, swarming urban spaces

NEW YORK: Spotted lanternflies might have attractive polka-dotted wings with splashes of red, but they are no pretty sight for the environment.
The ornate insects, which are native to China and Vietnam, have become an invasive species in other parts of the world including Japan, South Korea and the United States.
While they are harmless to humans, they affect crops like apples, blueberries, grapes and hops, sucking the sap out of dozens of plants and impacting both the yield and quality of produce.
Scientists are now sounding the alarm about this insect species threatening agriculture thousands of miles away from their homeland.
Lanternflies are most active during the current autumn season in the Northern Hemisphere. They reach full adulthood from August onwards and lay their eggs from September until the first killing freeze – usually in November.
They can spread quickly and do not have any natural predators. They have also rapidly adapted to new environments, posing an ever-growing threat to native habitats.
In the US, lanternflies have spread to 17 states.
In Pennsylvania alone, they could drain the economy of at least US$324 million annually. Quarantine requirements have also caused bureaucracy headaches and increased costs for growers.
Most of the state’s counties are currently in a quarantine zone, which means transportation-based businesses must obtain a special permit requiring their staff to be trained to spot lanternflies, so the adult insects and their eggs are not inadvertently transported elsewhere.
First detected in the US a decade ago in Pennsylvania, spotted lanternflies were likely transported from China on imported stone, with their eggs disguised as a smear of mud.
They quickly spread by hitchhiking across the country on trucks, cars, train wheels and even backpacks.
Research shows that lanternflies that have made it to America are much hardier than their native peers in China.
“The big fear is that they could spread to the West Coast, where the grape growing region is hugely economically important, in the billions of dollars,” said entomology professor Kelli Hoover from Pennsylvania State University.
“We’re talking (about) California, Oregon, Washington… they have already started preparing for how to deal with that.”
In New York, the insects have swarmed many urban green spaces like Randall’s Island Park in the middle of New York City, where staff are following state guidance to clamp down on the situation.
“We’re helping people identify them and squish them so that their populations can stay balanced,” said the park alliance’s public programmes manager Anna Kemeny.
Experts recommend that people kill the insects as soon as they see them.
It is also not just lanternflies that are exploring new habitats. Global trade and human activity are increasingly transporting a variety of species around the world.
Scientists say urban animals are subtly changing from one generation to the next to survive. However, for every species thriving in a new environment, many others do not.
“It’s really only been in the last 50 or so years that people have started to appreciate how much humans have altered the course of evolution, and how rapidly we’re doing it,” said Kristin Winchell, assistant professor of biology at New York University.