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so the spotted lantern fly seems to be the most intelligent insect I've ever dealt with. They walk around the sides of a stem to evade enemies, and it's pretty effective against my electric swatter. They also seem to see me and begin their maneuver before I even break out the swatter
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> In 21st-century North America, the invasiveness of the species has been compounded by its harboring of the also destructive and invasive spotted lanternfly
I have these on my property :ablobweary: they volunteer every year and are another one that's pretty hard to kill.
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official nickname: Tree of Heaven
also known as: Tree of Hell
relativity is a hell of a drug
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@NailBomb I wouldn't even care if not for the fact they stink and seem to be a hangout for these lantern flies (also Chinese)
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I feel your pain for real. The poplars here are a nightmare - cut one down a dozen pop up. I don't know exactly where they originally came from, but poplar trees can send suckers out over 100' away, so it's a losing battle when I have neigbours. They've invaded my raspberry patch as well, which means I have to sacrifice blood in order to cull the invaders.
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Ya, that's pretty gross. Other than invasiveness, poplars are pretty benign, so I guess I really don't feel your pain after all.
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@NailBomb this is the first year these guys have shown up. They were spotted in areas around us last year but this time it's my turn. I have an electric swatter that does ok as long as I can reach them. Luckily we also have 4 of the top 5 predators around. Maybe I can convince some people to raise chickens to mitigate.
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There is a big saturnid moth that also likes them . . . although that is not a reason to allow the trees either.
In a city, they are famous for coming up through a crack in a sidewalk and eventually breaking up the pavement
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@not_br549 @NailBomb I think one nice thing about them for now is that it gives me a location where I can kill a lot of the lantern flies at once, but on the flip side they may also attract them to the yard. I would rather not have these guys start feeding on my plants.
I have also noticed groupings on wild grape vines around the property, but nothing like the congregation I found today.
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@not_br549 @NailBomb @thatguyoverthere You can feed the chicks for days with those.
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@thatguyoverthere @not_br549 @NailBomb Maybe you could try the fan trick? Do you have any helpful insects that might be harmed by this?
youtu.be/QNXrEmuidG4
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yeah, blow that Ailanthus stink around the neighborhood, so ALL the lantern flies will notice it and come over.
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@BowsacNoodle @not_br549 @NailBomb yeah I read the chickens will eat them, but the problem is these things are on the edge of the property and there is no guarantee they won't jump off on the way or after I throw the branches in the pen. They are more of a jumping bug than a fly tbh. If I could move my fence in such a way as to contain the alianthus in the chicken yard it would be a great supplement I'm sure
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@BowsacNoodle @not_br549 @NailBomb I'm not sure this would work out. They don't fly around much and they are a bit more meaty than mosquitoes
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@thatguyoverthere @not_br549 @NailBomb Cut a stalk a few stalks from the plant and attach it (zip tie?) to the fan. The larger fans have enough pull to hold bees. Alternatively could see if they'd fall for a funnel trap?
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@BowsacNoodle @not_br549 @NailBomb I've been researching them and from what I've read and observed they don't explore much. I don't see them in my raised beds or on my berry bushes at all. So far the only places I've seen them are on or around grape vines and these trees (I think we've cut down all of the suckers). If I had realized they were on the property earlier, the best mitigation would have been finding the egg sacs, but I have not found any so I think if they hatched here they are done with that. Some people have had success with a bug vacuum and I've had a little success with an electric swatter. At this stage as long as I don't see them exploring in new areas or feeding off of my crops, I think our current efforts are working. We'll see how many end up going to adult. Jen said last year she saw them all over Winchester.
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@BowsacNoodle @not_br549 @NailBomb I wouldn't really want to mess with the other flying bugs. The lantern fly in spite of it's name is a leaf jumper and is not likely to take long flights. Wasps and other carnivorous fliers might eat them (in addition to pollination) so any disruptionsto their flight patterns would be undesirable.
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@thatguyoverthere @not_br549 @NailBomb Do you have any noseemmesh you could use? That stuff is great for trapping bugs inside areas, as any camper can tell you.
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