It is consuming crops and swarming Pa. towns. Can N.J. keep this bug away?

An adult spotted lanternflywith wings spread, showing the colorful hind wings.(Photograph courtesy Holly Raguza, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture)

Just across the Delaware River, an invasive bug has been eating its way through farms and swarming towns in Pennsylvania.

Now, New Jersey farmers and officials are on the alert.

Agriculture agents are vigilantly surveying areas along the Delaware River, looking for any sign that the bug has hopped the border. The federal government has dedicated money to join the battle. And one official wants to start building.

"I want a wall between New Jersey and Pennsylvania," quipped Gary Pavlis, a Rutgers professor and agriculture agent in Atlantic County. "I don't know what other people's opinions on the wall are, but we need a wall."

All of that in an effort to keep the spotted lanternfly, a one-inch long, brightly colored bug from Asia, out of the Garden State.

A native of China, India and Vietnam, the spotted lanternfly (scientific name lycorma delicatula) first appeared in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014. The insect feasts on the sap of plants and trees; in its wake it leaves a sugary liquid called honeydew that encourages fungal growth on the weakened plants.

The initial Berks County sighting was at a stone importing business. Pennsylvania officials believe the spotted lanternfly hitched a ride across the ocean on an order of landscaping stones from Korea.

Since then, the spotted lanternfly has spread rapidly throughout Southeast Pennsylvania. Just 174 square miles of affected area in fiscal year 2016 morphed into 3,000 square miles in fiscal year 2017, according to the USDA.

The Pennsylvania quarantine area for the spotted lanternfly currently includes 13 counties; these places restrict the movements of specified goods out of the affected area. Violators can be punished with criminal or civil penalties, including possible fines, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The most intense infestations have been in Berks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Bucks counties. The bugs have also been seen in Delaware, Virginia and New York.

The spotted lanternflies swarm in the hundreds of thousands. PDA Deputy Secretary Fred Strathmeyer said the swarming insects have substantially harmed the quality of life for residents of affected areas. He added that this swarming increases the risk that the bugs will "hitchhike" on unwitting vehicles out of the quarantine zone.

"It's very difficult when the swarming is going on to not end up with the pests in your vehicle or on your vehicle," Strathmeyer said.

Strathmeyer said that a study to determine the full economic scale of damage caused by the spotted lanternfly in Pennsylvania is currently underway.

According to Strathmeyer, Pennsylvania is currently developing a permitting process for businesses and people within the 13-county quarantine zone that wish to move regulated items elsewhere. According to the PDA, those regulated items include:

  • Any living stage of the spotted lanternfly, including egg masses, nymphs, and adults.
  • Brush, debris, bark, or yard waste
  • Landscaping, remodeling or construction waste
  • Logs, stumps, or any tree parts
  • Firewood of any species
  • Grapevines for decorative purposes or as nursery stock
  • Nursery stock
  • Crated materials
  • Outdoor household articles including recreational vehicles, lawn tractors and mowers, mower decks, grills, grill and furniture covers, tarps, mobile homes, tile, stone, deck boards, mobile fire pits, any associated equipment and trucks or vehicles not stored indoors.

"We are trying to keep this thing contained to the 13-county area," Strathmeyer said.

In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $17.5 million in emergency funds to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to fight the bug's spread. To go along with that, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed dedicating nearly $1.6 million in state funds to the cause. Pennsylvania congressmen have also pushed for Congress to dedicate up to $40 million to stop the bug.

"We've seen a dramatic expansion in the range of this pest over the last year and we need to take decisive action to prevent the spotted lanternfly from spreading throughout Pennsylvania and into neighboring states," USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a press release announcing the emergency funds.

New Jersey officials are anxious about what could happen if the bug crosses the Delaware River and becomes established in the Garden State. Spotted lantern flies have been spotted three times in New Jersey; the first two instances were dead adult bugs that had been transported from Pennsylvania and the third was on a Christmas tree that had been carrying an egg mass.

"The can affect just about every agricultural industry that we have in this state," said Joseph Zoltowski, the NJDA's Division of Plant Industry director. "We were naive to think that it wouldn't spread here."

Pavlis, the Rutgers professor, fears the damaging effects the spotted lanternfly could have on New Jersey. When the spotted wing drosophila, an invasive fruit fly, appeared in the state in 2011, Pavlis said the bug caused millions of dollars in damage to a variety of crops in New Jersey.

A spotted lanternfly outbreak could wreak the same havoc, he said.

Of particular concern for Pavlis is the impact the bug could have on New Jersey vineyards. Pavlis said that since insects are generally not a problem for the state's vineyards, pesticides are rarely used. That makes New Jersey's grape vines even more vulnerable to spotted lanternflies.

For now, New Jersey wineries seem to be keeping a cautious eye on the situation in Pennsylvania but are not too concerned, according to Garden State Wine Growers Association Executive Director Tom Consentino.

Zoltowski said New Jersey is keeping a watchful eye on the spotted lanternfly's spread.

Agriculture crews in N.J. are busy surveying areas up and down the Delaware River. Zoltowski hopes to secure more money from the USDA to have these crews out seven days a week. Currently, there are no plans for checkpoints at New Jersey border crossings, but Zoltowski said that could change if the situation continues to worsen.

And Zoltowski said he expects sightings in New Jersey to spike this summer.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has released guidelines for how to identify spotted lanternflies, and how to report them.

If you think you find a spotted lanternfly in New Jersey, you can report it to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture by calling 1-833-223-2840 or by emailing slf-plantindustry@ag.nj.gov

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub.

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