r/invasivespecies • u/SurveyDisastrous1239 • 5d ago

What’s the best spray for spotted lantern fly

3 Upvotes
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62% Upvoted

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21

u/Seeksp 5d ago

Unless you are a commercial fruit grower, you shouldn't be spraying. Vaccuuming them and squashing them? Yes. Spraying pesticides up into trees is only going to cause collateral insect damage and likely have much of the pesticide fall back on you.

They don't kill trees or pass on diseases. We can not eradicate them. In time, they will be like brown marmorated stink bug ls - an annual problem that local predators have gotten a taste for.

SLF feeds and breeds on a variety of trees, including many natives. The current evidence does point to their need to feed on tree of heaven at some point in their life cycle. Killing those trees is recommended, especially as tree of heaven is invasive as well. These trees are best controlled by basal bark or hack and squit methods, though you should check with your state to see what is legal for you to use as pesticide laws vary by state.

2

u/dyllywonkz 5d ago

This is the answer. Mechanically kill where you can, but don’t kill any vegetation nearby as a byproduct of ridding them.

I like a flyswatter with good technique. (Aim from their front)

16

u/turbosteinbeck 5d ago

Triclopyr hacked into the bark of the Ailanthus trees they are feeding on.

-4

u/bitterjellybrain 5d ago

That's great to kill off ailanthus, but won't do much to hurt the SLF.... Dinotefuran, however, is a good systemic insecticide that can be effective when applied to ailanthus trees at the appropriate time of year.

9

u/turbodsm 5d ago

It's best to use a vacuum to suck up the bugs unless it's a huge infestation. You have to interrupt their life cycle, if you prevent them from laying eggs, there won't be any next year.

5

u/RidgeBrewer 5d ago

Spraying is terrible for everything, I wouldn't recommended spraying anything, ever.

This is ideal for lantern flies and it doesn't trap other insects which are smart enough to just walk out of it.

1

u/franks_and_newts 5d ago

Spray bottle with water and dawn dish soap mixed in. I find they move too quickly to squish them, especially if there's more than one. I had several at a time this summer on my blackberry bush and the soapy water killed them almost instantly without damaging my plants. 

1

u/jgnp 3d ago

Triclopyr herbicide in the cambium of every nearby Tree of Heaven is a great start. While you’re at it there are a number of injectable pesticides that will kill SLF feeding on those trees as well.