Japer and North Georgia, The Spotted Laternfly Has Been Spotted

Hello everyone and welcome to the faith pest control Podcast. I’m Mike Stewart, your host and today we have pest expert Fred Talley, who’s going to tell us all about the spotted lantern fly. Now, I don’t know if the spotted lantern fly has made it to Jasper, Georgia or Blue Ridge, Georgia, or Ellijay Georgia or big canoe or really I don’t know if it’s in the north Georgia mountains but I do know it’s in Carolina, and I know it started up in the Pennsylvania area and I bet you anything before you know it. You’re going to be wanting to know what to do about the spotted lantern fly so Fred, what’s as the kids say the 411 on spotted lantern fly. Oh, mais Mikey, the spotted lantern fly spotted lantern fly seems to be the latest non native species of insect to kind of get a foothold in the United States. And you’re correct is first found in Pennsylvania, around 2014. And since then, active infestations as one would expect kind of spread or out around that area. They’ve been found in Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, but now in the recent past, they’ve been found in one county in North Carolina, in that it’s kind of the West Central northern part of the state is where it’s actually found. But as far as I’m aware, they’re not the spotted lantern fly has not been found in Georgia yet. But it’s definitely we need to be on the lookout for it. It’s the spotted lantern fly is originally from the Far East China Vietnam area is it’s fairly large, probably about an inch long. And although technically it’s not a fly. The name is fly but it’s not a fly. It’s considered what’s called a plant hopper and a plant hopper is in this giant group of insects, probably 12 over 12,000 identified species worldwide that that feed on foliage and shoots and stems of many different plant species but then they they have what’s called, we call it Pearson sucking mouthparts. So they pierce the plant cells or stems and suck out the liquid elements for nutrition. The areas of which a spotted lantern fly are currently found generally have one generation per year. They overwinter is eggs which are late in the fall and hatch in the spring. Eggs are deposited in in bunches of 30 to 50 and recovered in a grayish waxy deposit. The eggs can actually be hard to spot on plant material, but they can also be found on non plant material like rocks, cars and trucks. And equipment tractors implements tractor implements which actually increases the risk of increasing their distribution. After hatching, the immature stages of the spotted lantern fly go through several developmental stages, but only in about an eight week period in during the immature stages. They’re initially black with white spots developing the red spots during their final stage before coming becoming adults. Adults are normally present from midsummer on through till colder weather and fall when they will mate and they lay their eggs in the fall. They’re fairly large, as I said before, about an inch long and a half inch wide, normally with a blackhead and mostly black stomach, but they may have yellow bands on their stomach. their hind wings are black. With white banding towards the front and deep bread banding towards the rear. The adults can can fly from tree to tree. They tend to be strong jumpers as well. Hence the name plant hoppers and the adults feed throughout the summer then mate and lay their eggs in the fall. The Spotted lantern fly has 75 to 100 plus hosts meaning different plants that they will visit. They seem to prefer to feed on fruit trees like Apple, plum, peach, cherry, as well as grape vines and since they like grape vines, I’m gonna assume they like most Ghanaians as well. And I mentioned the grape vine And muscadines. Now because in our immediate area we’ve had several vineyards pop up. When I say immediate, you know in the 50 yard 50 yard 50 mile radius around Jasper, we’ve had several vineyards pop up in the last 10 to 15 years and muscadines for local people here. It’s pretty common fruit that they grow in their home gardens. With the exception of conifers, just about all trees planted in Georgia for forestry are potential hosts for the spotted lantern, lantern and fly. They all feed on Walnut birch, maple, oak, Willow Sycamore, as well as many other hardwood species. Interestingly enough, they seem to have an affinity for what’s called a Tree of Heaven, which itself is an invasive species. They also like to will feed on some vegetable plants and shrubs. They like I said before the spotted lantern fly feed by inserting its piercing mouthparts in the host plant and extracting the liquids. But after after consuming the liquid the unused liquid the liquid they consumed but don’t use is eliminated from their posterior and is waste and this is significant is the waste because the waste material is high in sugar. And it’s referred to as honey do and honey do will coat whatever’s below the feeding insect leaving that surface sticky. And then sooty mold which is a horticultural problem grows on the honey do which will then track bees and wasps. The honey view also tracks aphids, which is a bad problem with the apple trees in our in our area. Again, the spotted lantern fly as far as I’m aware has not been detected in Georgia. It is however very possible that Georgia treebo growers and horticultural crop producers will be impacted as they continue to spread is that they meaning the spotted lantern fly continued to spread and become established in the southeastern United States. If you suspect that you may have a spotted lantern fly infestation, you should report it to the University of Georgia extension office or the Georgia Department of Agriculture Plant Industry division. As always here at fake pest control, we offer a free consultation and a 100% make you happy money back guarantee. If you hire faith pest control to get rid of your bug problem, the end of 30 days you’re not 100% Happy, we’ll come back and retreat your home for free. And we’ll keep on trading it for free until you tell us that you are happy, that still doesn’t make you happy will give you back every penny you spent on the original treatment. Plus, we’ll pay you an additional $25 for your time in trouble. Bottom line is this. You’ll be happy with the service we provide you where you won’t pay a penny period. If you feel like what I’ve said makes sense. Call fake pest control today that 770-823-9202 and ask to speak to me Fred Talley. I’ll be more than happy to speak with you and answer any questions that you may have. Well, thank you there, Fred. We know a whole lot more about that spotted lantern fly. And we do this podcast as a customer service for everybody in Jasper, Georgia, in the north Georgia mountain area. And so it’s probably inevitable the spotted lantern fly is going to make it to Georgia. And when they do, you’ll know to call Fred at Faith pest control to take care of that problem because they are a nuisance. I work with some PCSOs in Pennsylvania, and they can do some pretty big damage to your trees and your plants outside your home. So you want to be prepared that if we get invaded by the spotted lantern fly, you will know what to do and until next time. This is my store for the faith pest control podcast.