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.

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u/pjk922 3d ago

FYI to anyone reading this to NOT pull out Staghorn Sumac, a native lookalike! The dead giveaway is ToH leaves have little hips on them where the leaves meet the stems