[MAIPC] Spotted Lanternfly thoughts

[Richard Gardner]

 One of the biggestmistakes I see in determining the plants SLF feeds on is confusing the plantsegg masses are found on with food sources. The Reading Eagle published anarticle yesterday which may have had a couple facts right, but for the mostpart what they said does not agree with what I find in the field. The mostglaring apparent error is assuming egg masses are found only on food sourcesand a few random objects. Yesterday in Blue Marsh near mile 22 on the looptrail I saw many egg masses on an a maple (not sure the species) with a large Ailanthus tree which was the food source,due to its abnormally darkened bark, about 8 feet away with few if any eggmasses on it.

 

 SLF egg masses arealways vertical or close to it. They appear to be laid from bottom to top oftenwith a "tail" where the last of the covering matrix dribbled out ofthe female. On many trees you will see horizontal blotches often on the sametree as SLF egg masses, they are not egg masses.

 

 Another trend,though far from absolute, is that egg masses are often laid in (small) clusterson trees, as if once an egg mass is deposited other females key in on it whenlaying their egg masses. Or perhaps sometimes the females cluster and lay theeggs as a group. This is consistent with the strong tendency of SLF to clustertogether as adults. (This clustering tendency will be something to study withnymphs this summer.) This is far from absolute, but a tendency I find in thefield just as often I see single egg masses on trees.

 

 The most commonexception is Ailanthus to the non-food site of egg laying.While on trail Monday just north of where I was yesterday some Ailanthus treeshad huge clusters of eggs. This is not an absolute rule. Along with this, thereare many trees where SLF were apparently feeding, but no egg masses nearby. Apparently,just because there are feeding SLF does not mean that they are alsoreproducing. I may have seen this yesterday in a large stand of older Ailanthus trees with a younger standattached to it.

 
 The only way Iknow for certain that a plant is a food source is when I see wet spots from sapleakage and SLF adults either on that spot or nearby. Again, there are a coupleexceptions, especially wild grape where the nature of its bark makes sapleakage hard to see.
 As in all things biological and ecological SLF is messy. What appears to be hard fast rule is often broken and the unexpected occurs.
 A final thought isthat agriculture by its nature is about tinkering. As an ecologist my nature isto observe and study before even thinking about tinkering. Land Grant schoolssuch as Penn State were often founded to "improve" agriculture so arebiased towards tinkering. Somewhere, Science was hijacked from observingnatural phenomena to engineering natural phenomena. This is just a thoughtabout the differences between my approach and the approach of other people.
                                           Richard Gardner
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