Spotted Lanternflies invade Illinois

[beschizza]

Originally published at: Spotted Lanternflies invade Illinois | Boing Boing

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[danimagoo]

We’ve been instructed here in New Jersey to kill them on sight for a couple of years now, but it hasn’t made an impact. I haven’t seen as many this year, but I suspect it’s because of other critters deciding they make an acceptable meal. They also don’t seem to be quite as destructive on the local flora as at first feared, so I suspect they’re here to stay. They are pretty at least.

[knoxblox]

[BillB]

I helped move my daughter from Pittsburgh. Lantern Flies were swarming. Worked very hard to squash the remorse while squashing the bugs. My paranoia that I was hauling hitchhikers did not subside till I had the trailer empty.

[Gyrofrog]

I haven’t seen any where I live (just northeast of DC), but we went up to downtown Baltimore and walked into a swarm of the things.

[generic_name]

Are they going to rain down billions of little black turds on me when I walk through the forest, like spongy moth ( formerly “gypsy” moth) caterpillars did in the 80’s?

[Medievalist]

They are past control in northern Delaware, and I saw clouds of them in New York City’s financial district.

[micah]

I came to say they haven’t been quite as bad in NYC this year as they were last year, but two flew by my office window (about 700 feet off the ground!) in the time it took to type this. Sigh.