Wildlife officials urge people to kill spotted lanternflies as insect spreads across US
Move over murder hornets, a new insect has people bugging out.
The spotted lanternfly is wreaking havoc on fruit crops, trees and even lawn furniture in 13 U.S. states.
"They have a honeydew substance that they excrete all over the plants and lawn furniture," New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher told ABC News. "It's messy, nobody likes it."
That honeydew substance can lead to the growth of damaging black sooty mold. So if you see a spotted lanternfly, authorities say to act immediately.
"They'll reveal those red wings -- that's how you know it's a spotted lanternfly,” a New York City park ranger told ABC News. "So if you see them, we want you to identify it -- and we want you to squish it!"
In New Jersey, officials have also told people to inspect vehicles, trailers or outdoor items for these invasive bugs before moving them out of the quarantine zone.
"They hitch hike on railyards and boatyards and anywhere they can -- on trucks, cars," Fisher said. "So the public, we're engaging the public to also help."
The fast-moving pests -- which are native to Asia and known for their pale, pinkish gray wings, black dots and scarlet undercoat -- were first documented in Pennsylvania in 2014.
Although the insect isn't a threat to humans or pets, the spotted lanterfly feeds off of 70 different types of plants and trees, with the invasive tree of heaven as its preferred host.
In the four years since the spotted lanternflies first appeared at Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, partner Sam Landis says the bugs have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
"We've had at least 2 acres of replants [in] the last four years," Landis told ABC News. "You can spray, you can basically wipe out a million of them in one day, and the next day, they're all back."
For those visiting from out of state, Fisher urges people to look at their cars.
"We don't want the bugs brought into the counties that right now are not seeing mass populations," he said.
Officials recommend people report spotted lanternfly sighings to their local government after killing the insect.
