Are new #invasives like #SpottedLanternFly worse in #nyc this year?
Yesterday in #VanCortlandtPark they were all over the place. Today in #InwoodHillPark there were even more. Like 1000’s.

I paused under the Henry Hudson Parkway to swat a few 100. Felt pointless. Some helpful guy said to me “you’re the third person I seen stopped to swat those things”. Geez.

Spotted lanternflies are an invasive insect that feeds on a wide range of plants including many fruit & nut trees. They've only been known to be present in the USA since 2014, and are spreading rapidly: the wasp that keeps them in check in their native range doesn't live here. They can live anywhere that tree-of-heaven (also invasive) lives. Report sightings outside quarantine areas. If traveling check your vehicle for egg masses.

#SpottedLanternFly #InvasiveSpecies

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/the-threat/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly

Learned that Penn State's Department of #Entomology has been tracking predators of the #SpottedLanternFly while listening to the "Allegheny Front" #podcast. Namely among them are birds (linked) but also others like the praying mantis. As an invasive species that arrived in PA in 2014, threatening local trees, SLF's were believed to have no domestic predators, but surprise!

*takes note to let chickens loose on my college campus /joke*

Also SLF's may store bitter tasting chemicals from trees to make them taste bad to predators! Funky.

I thought I remembered something similar with fireflies, from episode 365 Fireflies and Plants of "In Defense of Plants". So their larvae are mainly carnivorous. They contain bitter Lucibufagins toxins that are extremely bad for vertebrates. We don't really know where they get them, but Dr. Lynn Faust suspects it might be #milkweed (which we didn't really know they ate before??)!

https://ento.psu.edu/news/birds-biting-bad-bugs-using-community-science-for-spotted-lanternfly-research

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280133619_The_Occurrence_and_Behaviors_of_North_American_Fireflies_Coleoptera_Lampyridae_on_Milkweed_Asclepias_syriaca_L_By_Lynn_Faust_and_Hugh_Faust_The_Coleopterists_Bulletin_682_283-291_2014_Cite_944796

#PA #Pennsylvania