<html><head></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:courier new, courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">I sent the following note to Bugwood yesterday after looking at their SLF info. Please share as you want.</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><div><p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">Spotted Lanternfly
research note</span></b></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">Richard Gardner</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">August 24, 2019</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">The Spotted Lanternfly
from my experience it is not a threat to forests and just because it is on a
plant does not mean it feeds on that plant. I have photos of SLF on a telephone
pole and on rusted iron fence posts. What I have seen is it will lay eggs on a
food source, but very often on trees around a food source. An interesting quirk
I am seeing is that it does not feed on forest trees, but will feed on the same
genus if it is in a domesticated situation.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">SLF is primarily an
insect of edges and ecotones such as fields edges, hedgerows, urban and
suburban forests which is where its primary food sources, <i>Ailanthus
altissima</i> and <i>Vitus sp</i>. grow. Locally, I have also seen
nymphs and adults on Black Walnut (<i>Juglans nigra</i>). The few times I have
seen SLF in a forest it was probably carried there on a hiker, a hunter or
vehicle. The gypsy moth is a much greater threat to our forests.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">My understanding is
that there are 5 nymph stages with instars 4 and 5 being red. Adults apparently
have 2 or 3 stages from just emerged to mature. I am still working this out as
I have seen two and possibly three different adult sizes. Along with this, I
have seen two or three life stages such as two or more instars, adults and a
late stage instar and two sizes of adults at the same time.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">The quarantine is a sad
joke. SLF has spread into Delaware and New Jersey, possibly New York and has
been found in Maryland and Virginia. Scraping the billion or so egg masses in
Berks County, PA is a completely lost cause as that would require exploring
every square meter of land in this area and eliminating every food source.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">Reproduction - From my
observations SLF just needs a good food source to produce fertile eggs.
Locally, I saw egg masses over the winter which hatched in the late spring and
this past Wednesday adults in an area where there are no <i>Ailanthus</i> trees,
just wild grape.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">Talking with local
wineries, SLF is a major threat to them. However, talking with a local orchard,
not a threat to peaches and apparently other tree fruit. The past winter with a
late hard freeze and the unusual amount of rain over the past couple years has
done more damage than SLF to local grape vines. </span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">There appears to be a
wave phenomenon with SLF where the population builds up in an area, explodes
and then virtually disappears. This needs a few more years to follow to be
absolutely certain if this is a long term phenomenon.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">I can now locate
an <i>Ailanthus</i> tree where SLF congregate by the smell from many
feet away. In the winter I look for the black sooty mold at the base of
an <i>Ailanthus</i> tree from earlier feeding.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">About two weeks ago,
the adults started dispersing across the landscape. They nymphs and early
adults may disperse in a small area. However, mature adults disperse more
widely. (I have seen nymphs in the same spot over several weeks.) What was
backyard research, with eggs, nymphs and adults this morning became back deck
research as there were many adult SLF on wild grape overhanging our deck.</span></p>
<p class="ydp613c312aMsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#1D2228">We live in northern
Berks County just south of Shartlesville. My MS thesis, University of Maryland,
completed in 2008 was ironically on <i>Ailanthus altissima</i>.</span></p></div><br></div></div></body></html>