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Spotted Lanternfiles (Read 1211 times)
Rat Man
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Spotted Lanternfiles
Jul 26th, 2021 at 7:10pm
 
     If you don't know what a Spotted Lanternfly is consider yourself lucky.  You will in the next few years.  It's an invasive insect from Asia that found its way to Pennsylvania and has spread to New Jersey. Here's some good info: 
https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly
    I saw my first one, an adult, here in New Jersey last year.  I had no idea what it was.  I marveled at how beautiful it was with its brilliant orange wings.  This year I've been seeing a lot of juveniles in my yard which causes me great concern because some people I know around here have had their gardens and trees stripped clean by them.  The juveniles jump very quickly and are consequently very hard to squish.  Praying Mantises eat them but there aren't enough Praying Mantises to put a dent in their population.  For all intents and purposes they have no natural enemies here.  Concerned yet?
     As you all know I have a vegetable garden this year.  I also have about twenty big trees in my yard.  I needed to fight back so I looked into it.  I was going to buy Praying Mantises and also plant Milkweed.  Milkweed is toxic to them but they eat  it anyway and die.  I checked out the price of Praying Mantises... for two egg cases it's about a hundred bucks.  That's to rich for my blood.  I ordered the Milkweed seeds and they arrived yesterday.  Then I looked up the best way to plant them.  It turns out you have to plant them in the Fall.  Freezing and thawing throughout the Winter cracks their hard seed shells so they can germinate in the Spring.  So although they might eventually prove helpful they're worthless to me this year.  A side note;  not only does Milkweed kill Lanternflies but helps Hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. 
     I'm not completely helpless though.  A friend told me a way to kill the juveniles.  Mix Pine Sol with an equal part of water and a few teaspoons of sugar.  Leave it out where the little bastards are and they drink it and die.  I put out three bowls of the cocktail late this afternoon.  I'll let you know how it works. 
     Below are two pictures of the Spotted Lanternfly;  first the adult then the juvenile.
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Rat Man
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Slinging Rocks!

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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #1 - Jul 26th, 2021 at 7:11pm
 
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Kick
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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #2 - Jul 30th, 2021 at 5:24am
 
They look beautiful. Shame they are so destructive.
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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Rat Man
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Slinging Rocks!

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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #3 - Jul 30th, 2021 at 2:28pm
 
In flight their bright orange inner wings are more visible.  They truly are beautiful.  I think that most people reading this don't realize just how destructive they are and how big of a problem this is.  In the next ten years everyone will know.  This is something major.
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Rat Man
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Slinging Rocks!

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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #4 - Aug 1st, 2021 at 11:36am
 
Lanternflies destroying trees not far from my home.
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Rat Man
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Slinging Rocks!

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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #5 - Aug 8th, 2021 at 7:36am
 
   One other thing.  Because of their conspicuous markings birds think that they're poisonous and won't eat them.  Currently there is nothing here to stop them.
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Morphy
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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #6 - Aug 8th, 2021 at 10:07am
 
https://www.saxvor.com/100-xl-praying-mantis-eggs-praying-mantis-ooth-stink-bug-...

Is this what you are looking for? I read that each case has quite a few individuals eggs in them. Really have no idea though.

I feel the same way about the mountain pine beetle which is currently busy decimating entire areas out west. Its sad to see whole forests dying from them but not much you can do as far as I know. Maybe light a match but *shrug*.
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Rat Man
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Slinging Rocks!

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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #7 - Aug 8th, 2021 at 10:18am
 
   Praying Mantises are mostly sold by the egg sacks.  Two sacks will cost you roughly a hundred bucks.  I have no idea how many individual eggs are in each sack.  The last time I had a vegetable garden, in the 90s, they were much cheaper. 
    That $72.95 might be a good price.  It depends on how they're shipped and how many survive the shipping and how many actually hatch.  I recently bought 1500 Ladybugs.  They were shipped by regular mail.  When I got them what appeared to be about 30% of them were dead.  I still had enough for my purposes though. 
     Depending on how bad the Lanternflies get I might break down and spend the money for Praying Mantises.  A yard full of bare trees is pretty ugly.
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Curious Aardvark
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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #8 - Aug 8th, 2021 at 3:01pm
 
wow the juveniles look like a cross between a ladybird and the beasties in the film starship troopers !
...

Spliced with:
...

Becomes:
...

as far as the milkweed goes.
plant it in some small pots, stick it in the freezer overnight, then out for a couple days then back in for a day.
And see if they germinate Smiley
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Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
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Rat Man
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Re: Spotted Lanternfiles
Reply #9 - Aug 18th, 2021 at 11:51am
 
   Currently none of our North American birds will eat Lanternflies.  Due to Lanternflies coloration birds believe that are poisonous.  Birds are dinosaur survivors of the last great extinction.  They didn't get this far by being stupid.  They will eventually figure out that Lanternflies are edible and at that point things will normalize.  But no one knows how long it will take for birds to get the idea and how much damage will be done in the meantime.  Last year I saw one Lanternfly the whole year.  This year I'm seeing many every day.  It's a big problem.
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