Spotted lanternflies in NJ: How to keep them off your trees - Asbury Park Press

Spotted lanternflies — an invasive species that has swarmed the Garden State for a few years now — seem to be here to stay. But as the their peak season approaches, there are things you can do to mitigate the creepy crawlies that may not be as abundant as they seem.

The lanternflies go through four life stages, according to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, and in the third, during the latter half of the summer, they become larger and more visible.

One Shrewsbury business owner, Paul Kessler, said his employees alerted him to the fact that the bugs were covering the back of his building.

"It's bad," Kessler said. "It's really disturbing. They've infested our area much more radically than I saw last year."

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But his main concern is for the trees.

"I'm not worried about [the lanternflies], they don't bug me too much," he said. "I worry about what the next phase is going to be, in terms of what they're going to eat, what they're going to destroy, what we're going to have from nature."

Kessler called state and local officials regarding his concerns, but never received a response.

"Whatever we can do to help, the government should be telling us that," he said. "I think it's an emergency."

'A nuisance pest'

With every county in the state under a spotted lanternfly quarantine — asking residents and businesses to follow certain guidelines to keep them from spreading farther — the Department of Agriculture is no longer asking people to report sightings. They are, however, still asking people to kill the pests when they can.

The lanternflies don't harm humans or animals, but feed on trees, according to the department. The bugs excrete a honeydew-like substance that turns into dark sooty mold on trees and other objects and attracts bees and wasps.

Even so, there hasn't been any measurable damage to agricultural crops reported.

"Up to this point, they have primarily been a nuisance pest," a spokesperson for the department said.

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According to Ralph Citarella Jr., a board-certified entomologist and president of the Bayonne Exterminating Co., the spotted lanternflies are so partial to feeding on the tree of heaven, also known as the Chinese sumac, that they ignore pretty much everything else.

While they do also feed on grape vines and other plants, Citarella said there has not been a confirmed deciduous tree death due to the lanternfly activity.

"They don't have a tremendous impact on those things," he said.

Citarella said the research has reported that heavy lanternfly activity causes tree leaves to drop, but that's what deciduous trees do anyway.

"So they're kind of attacking trees that are already somewhat adapted to lose leaves as part of their normal biology," he said.

Because of this, they aren't causing as negative of an impact as has been seen with other invasive species in the state, like the emerald ash borers or Japanese beetles, he said.

In fact, there may not even be as many spotted lanternflies as meets the eye.

Towards the end of the season, around August and September, Citarella said the females are looking to mate, so they release pheromones. When they do that, every male down-wind for the next half mile makes his way over.

"The perception is that, 'Oh my God, they're everywhere,'" he said. "But the reality is that these areas that have the high levels of the mating females have these crazy inundations, and these are more islands in an empty sea."

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So how do you get rid of them?

But when there are just too many to step on or swat, the Department of Agriculture advises different treatment options, such as calling a licensed pesticide applicator.

Steve Chisholm Jr., a state-licensed tree expert and co-owner of Aspen Tree Expert Co., said his company's services include all kinds of insects and disease control treatments for trees and shrubs, including invasive species that have popped up in the past.

Now, they've added the spotted lanternfly to their roster too.

Chisholm said once these invasive species arrive, there's no way to eradicate them, but they can try to control and manage the populations.

There's a one-time application, which is more of a blanket spray, he said, similar to what you do with fleas and ticks, treating the whole yard while the pests are nymphs.

"You'll get pretty good, effective treatments and you can control most of what's on your property," he said.

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The problem, Chisholm said, comes once they become adults and can fly.

"Now it's not what you have on your property or what hatched in your yard. Now it's things that are flying in from your neighbors, adjoining parks, public properties, wherever," he said.

At that point, it's best to control them where it counts: their food sources.

Chisholm recommends bark treatment with a small backpack sprayer, which is focused on the bottom six to eight feet of the tree.

"There's not a lot of drift or chemical overspray where people would be concerned about a risk to their kids or their pets," he said.

The chemical absorbs into the bark and when the insects feed on it, they ingest it and die, he said. That protects the trees, cuts down on the mess from the excreting sugars and kills the bugs.

Ideally done at least once, if not twice, per year, the treatment is most effective if done between July 15 and Aug. 15, Chisholm said. Though, it's still effective after that, too.

Right now, there are no major predators in North America that have evolved to eat the spotted lanternfly, Citarella said.

"They're kind of a stranger in a strange land, which works out in their benefit," he said.

But one good thing about these invasive species, Citarella said, is that they are also not adapted to defend themselves from anything in their new environment.

While the spotted lanternfly is here, Citarella said the food chain will adapt and levels will normalize.

"One morning, one songbird wakes up and tries this pretty fly, maybe knocks one back and finds out they're tasty," he said. "Next thing you know, they're on the menu, and now our ecosystem starts to come back into balance."

Jenna Calderón covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-590-3903; jcalderon@gannettnj.com