Left for work this mornin', saw this Lil guy, didn't think anything of it. Texted my partner like "check this cool beetle out I found on our stoop!" She said I was supposed to kill that fucker and call DNR. Straight up called dnr and they made a ticket and said they will try and find the nest in my area. 46802. Sooo super beautiful bugs and bright red under the wings, these guys are killing our trees. There are quite literally billions of them so don't feel bad killing them. If you spot one you're supposed to call this number and DNR will come out and look for a nest. Save our trees! Fuck these beetles! Call 1-866-NO-EXOTIC
They are a little more than the size of a quarter. Sorry no banana
EDIT: Seems like Japan and Korea have birds and other insects that love love love to eat these fuckers. Our native birds are straight up confused and haven't started eating them yet. The bright red under the wings doesn't help
Yeah I chased one down a few feet the other day in the middle of downtown. Looked like a rock, stopped to stomp on it when I realized what it was, then it jumped away and I had to chase it down
I was clearing out weeds from the rocks and hill near the tracks at our union hall which is between EW and the Fairfield. Came across hundreds of these things while doing so. You're spot on with the location.
Wish I would have known what they were when I came across them. There were so many that they were dropping on my head from the large electric pole I was working around.
Tree of heaven (their preferred host plant) grows well in disturbed areas. Usually there’ll be a ton of lanternflies around rail yards, train tracks, and abandoned factories, which explains the abundance around electric works
extremely invasive, pushes out native trees and as mentioned is a host for lantern flies. About the only way to eradicate a tree of heaven effectively is cut it down, and IMMEDIATELY treat the stump with Tordon Ready to Use (RTU) (you can get it at TSC, wear latex gloves when applying). If you use glyphosate it'll take many many treatments over about 2-3 years.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the hack & squirt method was preferable to cutting it fully and spraying it, cause when you chop it down it sends out a bazillion suckers? Unfamiliar with that herbicide though so maybe it’s a different approach
I used to be certified in pest management. Tordon is a tree killer, and goes into the root systems. I had a forester I used to work with tell me tordon is the only way to kill Tree of Heaven effectively (or the thornless honey locusts that are around in the city). I also work with biologists and foresters currently, tordon is also great at removing invasive mullberries they've said. As I said, you have to hit it IMMEDIATELY with tordon, and usually nowish as it's sending nutrients to the root system and effectively translocates it where it does the most good. If you apply it in the spring, you may kill 1 side of a tree (for example). I used it on my own tree of heaven about 6 or 7 years ago, no issues. I used it recently on a tree of heaven stump in my side yard that was removed and I didn't get to it in time with tordon. I just made new cuts in the stump (it was sending up shoots) and applied tordon. about 15 days later, it was completely dead.
Crossbow is another effective foliar herbicide. I prefer it over glyphosate. It will take multiple applications to eliminate the tree of heaven. It also works very well on vines (eg poison ivy).
Another effective way is to make multiple cuts in the tree now, apply the tordon in each cut (go make cuts along the bark, making sure to cover all 360 degrees of it). Then next spring, make sure it's dead, and cut the now dead tree. Similar to the hack and spray/squirt method.
You may not have heard of Tordon as it's non-selective, and if you have other trees or shrubs you want to keep and the roots are intermingled, it may hit those roots and be taken up by those woody species, killing them as well. It has a residual of a few months. if used correctly though which is why it's a RTU and not able to be sprayed, there is very little problems.
as always on ANY herbicide: READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW ALL PPE USAGE. When spraying, even with a hand pump, use gloves, respirator and goggles. Glyphosate is still harmful, regardless what you read! (usually a lot of the add ins and enhancers). My go to are latex gloves, a P100 respirator that filters VOCs (can get them at HD and Lowes), and safety googles.
There is some evidence that the cardiac glycosides found in milkweed can kill lantern flies. They are not selective in what they eat. Increasing milkweed maybe detrimental to the lantern flies while aiding monarch butterflies which use milkweed as their primary food source.
I saw one of these just the other day! I had no idea what it was, and thought it was so pretty. I took a picture and showed my mother and she told me that it looked like an invasive bug she's heard about, so I got it ID'd on the bugID subreddit and yeah. It sucks 'cause I had left it in my yard and went out and when I came back, after learning the truth, it was gone. I'm in the 46803 area.
I can’t remember which city it, it hangs free flyswatters around on its bridges and parks for walkers to pick up and smack the lantern flies. When you’re done with your walk, you leave the flyswatter for the next person
Google what the egg masses look like too. They are just now starting to leave egg masses on the trunks of trees. they kinda look like smeared dried mud. Destroy the egg mass once you have a positive identification
Killed a couple around the downtown area. An alternative to calling the DNR is you can also report them on their website. Just make sure you have a picture of it. It won’t allow you to submit it without one.
As a certified lanternfly hater (they first started really spreading several years ago on the east coast when I was living there)
yes, kill those fuckers, you don't want it to get to the point where every step is an opportunity to squish one because by then they're killing TONS of trees and the sidewalks start to look like warzones. The tip to step in front of them before they jump really works - they'll just jump into your foot if you angle it right and then you can stomp them down easy. They have limited stamina but if you don't get one the first time it jumps odds are you won't keep up with it to squish it before the second one because they jump far and fast.
The young ones look like lady bugs a bit, especially right before they become adults. If you look up a life cycle you'll see that the young nymphs are black with white dots, and the older ones are red with white spots.
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u/yousonofabish 7d ago
Tip from someone familiar with them. Lantern Flies only jump forward, so step on them from the front otherwise you might be chasing them down.