About a year ago, I wrote about lanternflies and emerald ash borers. Well I got a report this week that Roger Brucher from Fosterdale Equipment, caught a spotted lanternfly in Cochecton last week.

The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula, is an invasive planthopper that was first detected in Pennsylvania in September, 2014 and believed to have arrived as eggs attached to stone in a shipment of stone from Asia.

This pest is native to China and has been reported in some other Asian countries. Since its first occurrence in Berks County in Pennsylvania, it has now spread to 13 counties in the state and was also reported in Delaware and New York in November, 2017 and in Virginia in January, 2018.

The eggs of the lanternfly are deposited in masses and covered by a waxy substance to protect them. There are four nymph stages in the lanternfly development and both nymphs and adults feed on the phloem, soft tissue inside the bark of trees, and excrete large volumes of liquid.

Severe feeding damage results in oozing wounds on the trunk, and wilting and death of affected branches and eventually the tree itself. Another invader from Asia is the emerald ash borer. Just like its name suggests the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, is a destructive wood-boring pest of ash trees. Native to Asia, the emerald ash borer beetle was unknown in North America until its discovery in southeast Michigan in 2002.

Just like the lanternfly, emerald ash borer eggs are deposited between bark crevices, flakes, or cracks and hatch about two weeks later. After hatching, larvae chew through the bark to the inner phloem, cambium, and outer xylem where they feed and develop.

Emerald ash borers have four larval stages as well. After maturing, adults chew holes from their chamber inside the tree through the bark, which leaves a characteristic D-shaped exit hole. Both of these species of insects are highly invasive because their normal predators from Asia are not present and they have an unlimited food source at the present time.

Spraying insecticides will help if you see you have a problem, but most people will not notice the problem until it is too late. This time of year it is a good idea to spray horticultural oil which will help in suffocating eggs laid on the bark so that they will not hatch next spring. This will work well in your yard but unfortunately all the trees in the forests around the northeast will not be sprayed.

So if you see something, say something. You can report any insect sightings to the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Liberty at 292-6180. There have been reports of emerald ash borers in Sullivan County, and now lanternflies are here as well.