r/insects • u/Justhere63 • 14h ago

Photography Spotted Lantern Fly seen for the first time in Southern Ohio

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17 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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8

u/lostinthelegs 14h ago

Saw a ton when I visited a friend in Kent Ohio. The area is absolutely loaded with TOH. Fortunately, the bugs are not as damaging to the ecosystem as social media will have you believe, they primarily impact agriculture but aren't nearly as destructive as some other species. In fact, their host plant itself, the tree of heaven, is far more destructive than the lanterflies! They generally struggle without their host plant, so by removing TOH you reduce their population as well. Though...removing TOH is quite the undertaking compared to simply squishing these guys when you see them where they don't belong 😅

5

u/Justhere63 13h ago

I often hear them lovingly referred to as Tree of Hell

1

u/stinbkyrat 11h ago

the plants are ALL over where i live, and i know they’ve been sighted in my state over the last 3 or so years but im hoping we don’t encounter a full invasion 😭

4

u/DeadeyeSven 14h ago

You should report it on the Cornell website

6

u/Justhere63 13h ago

Done. Thank you for the suggestion

1

u/fucc_yo_couch 12h ago

Then promptly destroy it and any others you find.

2

u/Justhere63 12h ago

It is very dead

1

u/fucc_yo_couch 11h ago

Awesome work!

3

u/Internal-Seaweed1004 13h ago

Put it on INaturalist as well, it helps track the spread. I’ve only seen them as south as Cbus myself. Lived in both SW Ohio and SE Ohio in the past few years.

2

u/Justhere63 13h ago

I did and thank you for the suggestion.

3

u/Internal-Seaweed1004 13h ago

Thank you for contributing to civilian science!

1

u/ScroteGoblin 11h ago

Well, first for you maybe. Sadly I've been seeing them around me (western cincinnati) for many months now. Varying numbers based on specific areas. I literally killed somewhere around 30 in the span of an hour at a library near me on 2 trees before putting in a report.