#spotted lanternfly

[numbersninja]

I’ve made more bugs. They’re friends

[planetquest]

i haven't seen any posts about it this summer so im making my own. if you live on the east coast of the US (particularly pennsylvania, new jersey, new york, or maryland) and you see a bug that looks like this:

(and report it to your state's department of agriculture if you're in an area without a known infestation, check here)

spotted lanternflies are pretty, but they're invasive and super destructive, for more info check out your state's department of agriculture !!

[herpsandbirds]

hi! any clue what these guys are? from northeast ohio USA

Oh shit!!!!

I am sorry to tell you, friend, but those are the nymphs of the non-native invasive spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), family Fulgoridae.

I would only very rarely suggest this, but I think you should kill them. There is a potential for this species, causing great harm to local native flora. 

[headspace-hotel]

the situation

[crevicedwelling]

spotted lanternflies, Lycorma delicatula. an infamous invasive in my area, but I’ve come to enjoy these clumsy little freaks more than I ever thought I would.

people are oddly obsessed with destroying them still, although the effect of killing them by hand or even with pesticides is negligible on the now-well-established populations. this is more of a “stop the spread” problem than it is “get rid of established populations,” and it’s people who don’t usually see these who should be on the highest alert for them. still, it’s interesting how their conspicuity, diurnality, and generally slow speed has made them the perfect thing for humans to kill thoughtlessly while other pests stay hidden, like emerald ash borers, or are undeservedly beloved, like honeybees, most of the eastern mantises, and feral cats.

the kill-on-sight campaigns area little depressing to me, especially when directed towards children —sure, they teach invasive species awareness, but really it’s just feeding an ugly desire to kill little animals. not going to ask you to not control them if they’re causing damage to your plants, but the weird bloodthirsty attitude towards Lycorma and declarations of their “evil” nature don’t seem terribly productive. they are as blameless as any invasive species. even when invasives must be killed by the individual (works for some species, not all!), there is still room to act thoughtfully and not demonize an animal for being an animal.

so personally, I let the lanternflies chill—for the most part, they feed on invasive weeds and nonnative ornamental plants, so they’re not much of a concern to me or my garden. whatever proper control methods (parasitoids, pathogens?) get developed probably won’t eliminate all of them, too, so big dumb fulgorids are probably a permanent fixture here. ah, I still feed them to mantises, but the only ones big enough are also invasive…

here’s one all tender and pale after molting. I’d like to find a teneral adult this year, which must be stunning

a good post on the topic of killing invasive species by @bowelfly :

[coolbugs]

Bug of the Day

Spotted lanternflies are taking over my life...

[knightsiscrabs]

the Bugs can move btw. they have little vibrating motors in them

[fly-sky-high-arts]

Could I suggest a design based off of the spotted lanternfly?

I'm not able to buy designs at the moment, so feel free to put it up as an adopt if you wish!

The Lantern Keeper

No performance goes without the lights illuminating the stage: or, in this case, the flames!

The keeper ensures there is neither too much or too little light present so the viewers may experience the atmosphere of the troupe tent in the best intended ways. The little fire lumaflies dance around the keeper, follow the instructions, rest and charge at the lanters and cast the fire and light at the command. The keeper is never without them or at least a single lantern.

---

Link to the ko-fi in the reblog!

[tea-slur]

Keep an eye out for these Spotted Lanternfly patches and prints that will be up on my shop within the next couple weeks!

You can find my ko-fi shop here!

[gummi-stims]

Real spotted lanternfly wing dice set from krazyk711 on tiktok!

[numbersninja]

The friends :)

Oh? What’s this?

Ah, a new friend :) welcome, crochet centipede!

[confidenttreehopper]

If you live in the northeast United States, then you’ve probably seen or at least heard of these guys. The Spotted Lanternfly. Or Lycorma delicatula.

They’ve been rapidly expanding and growing in population and while their presence is too new to know the exact impact they have on our native flora, they seem to pose a major threat to the apple and grape industries. They also excrete a honeydew that leads to mold growth on the plants they feed on.

So the states have put out this message to the public: “If you see it, smush it.”

And while I understand the need to be ruthless in invasive species response, I hope that people aren’t associating all lanternflies with this “bad bug” label.

So right now I’d like to showcase some cool/interesting species of lanternflies (the family name is Fulgoridae) in their native habitats :)

Peanut-Headed Lanternfly (Fulgora laternaria)

No Common Name (Phrictus diadema)

Malagasy Lantern Bug (Zanna madagascariensis)

No Common Name (Pyrops delessertii)

No Common Name (Kalidaysa lanata)

No Common Name (Pyrops intricatus)

Wax-Tailed Planthopper (Lystra lanata)

Fulgoridae has over 500 species making it a fairly large hemipteran family, please go on a Wikipedia dive to look at all of them. Happy bugging :))

[talism4niac]

Hehe there's never a pest too big for me to handle!

[onenicebugperday]

@snowbits submitted: I love how goofy spotted lanternflies are, too bad they're invasive

They are such cute funky little dudes! I love them very much. They don't know they're criminals :(

[99centmenu]

free therapy sessions*

*eastern US only

[liliotl]

The invasion is getting worse! remember if you live in the us and see these, kill on sight!

I deliver blood to hospitals and sometimes I deliver to a lab in Pennsylvania and everytime I go there is more and more of these things.

I stop to squish as many as possible and collect some for this specimen jar, then report how many I killed how many I collected and where from.