[MAIPC] spotted lanternfly thoughts

Fri Apr 13 07:09:46 PDT 2018

Hi Richard,

I'm glad to hear you will be out on the A.T. plenty this season, and I'd certainly be interested to hear what you find.  I'll admit I'm not completely up to speed with all of the monitoring techniques the PA Department of Agriculture may be using for the lanternfly, I'm only well familiarized with their tree banding efforts. These bands don't necessarily attract the lanternfly to the tree, but capture adults visiting Ailanthus to lay eggs, or nymphs looking for a meal. Currently the state is only banding Ailanthus, no other potential host species. I'm gauging the interest of the PA A.T. maintaining clubs to see if volunteers would be interested in setting up some tree band monitoring areas.  We would very much like to have a better picture of where the lanterfly currently is along the A.T. and how it may be using the trail corridor to move. The Dept. of Ag. asks that the bands be visited and reported on at least every other week.

I also can't speak to PA Game's strategy for treating Ailanthus, but basal bark, cut stump, and hack-and-squirt treatments can all be used to effectively kill Ailanthus. These methods can be labor intensive, but are extremely precise, and greatly reduce any concern regarding non-target treatments. While foliar treatments may be the only feasible treatment option in dense stands, these more selective treatments can be used in lower density areas and can alleviate many of the concerns that you mentioned. Following best management procedures regarding equipment, droplet size, and weather conditions will also reduce non-target concerns. Still, non-foliar treatments are the preferred method used for Ailanthus along the A.T. corridor.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you find on the A.T., please keep in touch.

Marian Orlousky
Northern Resource Management Coordinator
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
4 East First Street
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
Direct Line: 717-260-3217
MARO Office: 717-258-5771 ex: 208
Fax: 717.258.1442
morlousky at appalachiantrail.org<mailto:morlousky at appalachiantrail.org>
www.appalachiantrail.org<http://www.appalachiantrail.org/>

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From: MAIPC <maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org> on behalf of Richard Gardner <rtgardner3 at yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2018 7:10:10 AM
To: MAIPC Listserve
Subject: [MAIPC] spotted lanternfly thoughts

  I live literally on the front line of the panic/war on the Spotted Lanternfly near Shartlesville in Berks County, PA. We use I-78, the apparent northern border of the spread, as a local commuting route. Blue Mountain and the Appalachian Trail are a few minutes north of us. There is at least one large fruit orchard nearby. We buy vegetables from a local organic grower.

  This summer I will be spending a lot of time along the Appalachian Trail and other trails in Berks County, PA. My goals are twofold. The first is to continue research on Castanea dentata and its natural comeback from the blight while taking down the severely misguided American Chestnut Foundation. The second will be observation of the spotted lanternfly to learn as much as I can as fast as I can. To this end I will be especially looking at Celastrus orbiculatus, various Lonicera sp., Rosa multiflora, other woody non-natives from Asia and naturally Ailanthus altissima to see if the spotted lanternfly feeds on these plants from its point of origin.

  It would be a valuable research project if someone were to collect these plants along with native equivalents and test them directly with the spotted lanternfly to learn which ones are potential food sources. For now, the local agriculture people are focusing on Ailanthus. However, if the Asian plants serve as preferential food sources over native plants we will have an overwhelming breeding area because in Berks County the understory is almost all non-native in large areas of disturbed forest.

   A big concern of mine with the panic locally is that scared people act stupidly and scared stupid people act very stupidly. (Then there are the illiterate politicians we have to deal with in Berks County and Pennsylvania who are feeding the panic.) My expectation is that many farmers will be loading up their fruit and vegetable crops with more pesticides than they already are. This makes me hesitant to buy local produce unless it is labelled "organic". It will also add more poisons to our streams, land, ground water and the air we breathe. We are already inundated with agricultural poisons - how much more can we and the ecosystems take? Many of the local ecosystems are already in a catastrophic state - I fear the additional damage.

  My understanding of how Ailanthus is killed by the PA Game Commission is that they spray the trees with glyphosate and/or triclopyr. If this is still the practice and is generalized with the PA Ag department, then the collateral damage will be huge as spray drift is hard to control and perfect windless conditions are almost non-existent. I understand that to use other methods is impractical with the number of Ailanthus trees in Berks and Schuylkill counties, especially with clonal stands. However, there must be a better method or at least more benign chemicals which do the same.

  It appears that the PA Ag folks are falling into the Japanese beetle trap syndrome by setting up trap trees around fields of vulnerable crops. The result will be instead of keeping the spotted lanternfly away from the crops, it will be bringing them into the fields instead. I have heard that the best place for a Japanese beetle trap is your neighbor's yard as it will attract them there instead of to your yard. This is good advice for keeping the spotted lanternfly off crops.

  Our organic garden was severely damaged by the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug last summer. The tomatoes which survived the localized tomato blight were full of bites from the BMSB. We lost about 90% of our late season pole beans to the BMSB. Peppers were untouched as were other vegetables. If the spotted lanternfly has similar feeding habits to the BMSB our garden will be an unfortunately great place to observe how these two insects interact.

  Finally, if the hatching of the spotted lanternfly eggs is in sync with the leafing out of Ailanthus, it is a strong indicator that Ailanthus is a requirement for successful development and reproduction. Near home in the lower elevations, the non-native understory is in leaf. Ailanthus appears to still be in dormancy, even though the temperatures this weekend may change that.

  These are just my thoughts and concerns.

                                        Richard Gardner

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