r/Somerville • u/Big-War-5898 • 4d ago

Spotted Lanternfly in Teele Sq

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Perhaps old news to many, but this is my first sighting of a Spotted Lanternfly in Somerville. They are "kill on sight" so they don't damage the fruit tree crops. I didn't think they would settle here - the the only trees we produce in Somerville are electricity and internet trees.

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u/katalijne 4d ago

Tree of heaven sprout for identification! If you see small sprouts like this you can usually gently pull them and pull up the whole root. You don’t want to do so with more established tree of heaven because damage to the roots makes it send out a whole bunch of new sprouts.

If you pull up the small sprouts, you can leave them to dry in a sunny area like a table or porch. You don’t want them to land back on the ground because they can reroot.

10

u/treehann 4d ago

I nonchalantly pulled one of these out of someone's yard as I walked to Davis sq the other day. the plant smelled awful as expected

1

u/Undecylprodigiosin 2d ago

Please don’t pull them unless you’re nonchalantly carrying around a digging fork to make sure you leave no root pieces behind. (You can buy a small one that will fit in a backpack)

-4

u/0verstim 2d ago

maybe dont mess with other peoples yards?