Spotted lanternfly invasion spurs concern for Long Island agriculture

Amane Sanchez, of Holbrook, laments encountering "thousands" of the dreaded spotted lanternflies so far this year in her backyard.

"They are destroying my garden," said the self-described avid-gardener, 30, who grows berries, pears, peaches and apples.

"They are on everything," Sanchez said. "There is definitely damage being done. I have a 6-year-old weeping willow tree that is on its last legs. We are trying to fight them every way we find."

She isn't just unlucky.

This summer, the lanternfly infestation on Long Island is worse than ever.

And while the population is expected to decline at some point, that point isn't here yet. And it could be years away.

Numbers up closer to NYC

"The populations of spotted lanternfly in Nassau and Suffolk counties are higher this year than they ever have been," said Brian Eshenaur, senior extension associate, invasive species, at Cornell University's Integrated Pest Management Program.

That's based, he said, on reports coming into the state Department of Agriculture and Markets' spotted lanternfly reporting portal — yes, the problem is pervasive enough to warrant a special portal — as well as reports going directly to Cornell. (The department's press office didn't return an email Thursday seeking comment.)

"The numbers are certainly up this year," Eshenaur said, adding: "The populations are highest the closer you get to the city, with very low numbers in Eastern Long Island and the North Fork of Long Island."

He urges killing any on sight.

The spotted lanternfly — Lycorma delicatula — is an invasive insect pest from Asia. It made big news in past seasons in New York City. Now it's Long Island's turn.

The black nymphs can be seen as from April to July. Then the adults begin to appear that month, about an inch long and half an inch wide at rest, with what the state Department of Environmental Conservation calls "eye-catching wings" — grayish with black spots, red with spots and dark with a white stripe.

East End spared, for now

Robert Carpenter, director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, which represents about 550 farms, said his constituents have reported that the East End has been spared from the swarm — for now — but are dreading what could happen if, as predicted, the spotted lanternfly population spikes.

"We know that it’s coming, and it’s knocking on the door, but so far — knock on wood — it has not come here prevalently," Carpenter said, adding: "Farmers are being very observant and paying attention, because they are extremely worried about it."

Carpenter said the pest "basically bores into the trunks of trees and grapevines and other wooded masses to lay their eggs," and can devastate crops.

Eshenaur said, "Grapevines are a favorite crop plant of this insect," particularly worrisome for a region like the eastern end of the Island and its wineries and vineyards. 

"The good news is," he said, "after a couple of years of high populations we anticipate that the numbers will decline."

Eshenaur added: "It seems to already be happening this year in some parts of the city."

But based on limited experience with infestations in Pennsylvania, where the pests struck a vineyard in 2016, and then in New Jersey a few years later, "an optimistic model" predicts it could take as long as four to six years from when the first widespread reports come in about a particular area for the population to begin declining, according to Jacob Leeser, an aide to Eshenaur.

But that’s just a guess, Leeser said, and there’s not enough information to know for certain.

Bracing for infestation

Kareem Massoud, a winemaker for Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue, said North Fork wineries haven’t seen the infestation like elsewhere on Long Island, but he’s bracing for it.

“The main concern is not if someone sees a few but whether or not we have an infestation in a vineyard,” he said. “We’re basically bracing ourselves for an infestation next year.”

Once an infestation intensifies, Leeser said, the decline happens because the spotted lanternfly’s "all-you can eat buffet" of tree of heaven starts to decline.

"After a few years, they’re starting to eat through that food and all of a sudden there’s not enough food to support the population," he said.

Plus, it takes a while for predators like sparrows and praying mantises to grow accustomed to their new food — the spotted lanternfly.

A Cornell extension entomologist, Dan Gilrein, said there's ongoing research aimed at discovering and releasing "an effective biological control."

"We have been promoting non-pesticide approaches to management, such as use of shop or backpack vacuums to scoop up the insects where unwanted," he said, adding in an email: "It’s quite clear that we can (and will) live with this insect in the region — it’s certainly not dangerous to people or pets."

None of that is consolation to Sanchez, who isn't waiting for the population to decline naturally.

She said she’s been battling the pests by spraying insecticidal soaps, duct taping the base of her trees and applying garden oils that target fungi and insects.

"We are definitely getting some of them, but they are multiplying faster than we can deal with them," she said.

As an organic gardener, she wants to avoid calling in an exterminator.

Sanchez recalled seeing the lanternflies in the nymph stage back in May. These past several weeks, she’s spotted them fully grown and hungry. She said they’ve been eating the bark of some trees and the fruits of others.

No apple picking

"All of my apples have a thousand little dots on them," she said. "I can’t even pick them this year."

The pests aren't bothering just gardeners.

On Thursday, Lianne Masters, 40, of Lake Grove stepped outside while her son was getting a haircut in Lake Ronkonkoma when she said a spotted lanternfly with an approximate 2-inch wingspan landed on her dress.

"It was disgusting," she recalled. "I shooed it away and tried to step on it. There were another 10 in the vicinity ... We were not by any trees."

While Masters said she has not yet seen them at her home, she had some accompany her on the bleachers during a soccer game in Holbrook at the start of the summer.

"In the beginning of the summer when I saw them, we didn’t know what it was," Masters said. "They were not as crazy as the one I just saw a few hours ago."

Ronkonkoma resident Donald Carman said he has been skimming "probably five or six" dead spotted lanternflies out of his pool every day. He said he has "a decent" number of trees in his yard, too.

"I’ve never seen them here before," said Carman, 53.

John Altintoprak, manager of Long Island Pool Care of Southold, can't spot a lanternfly; he just knows that his company has seen a big increase of bugs in Long Islanders' pools.

"All I do is take out the bugs and throw them out," he said.