Reducing Spotted Lanternfly Damage to Specialty Crops

Northeastern IPM Center Partnership Grant Impacts

Reducing Spotted Lanternfly Damage to Specialty Crops

Julie Urban – The Pennsylvania State University

THE NEED
  • Spotted lanternfly* (SLF) attacks fruit trees, using its piercing/sucking mouthparts to feed on the sap in trunks, branches, twigs, and leaves, and it can feed through bird netting.
  • As SLF digests the sap, it excretes large amounts of a substance called honeydew, which can cause outbreaks of sooty mold and other fungi on the leaves and fruit, further damaging the plant and stunting growth.
  • In states where SLF has been established or detected, it threatens damages of $802 million in tree fruit, $113 million in grapes, $110 million in small fruit, and $2.6 billion in ornamentals. 
  • Nationwide, these numbers grow to over $18 billion in damage (NASS, 2017).
  • Spray records from 5 impacted vineyards indicate that the number of insecticide applications increased from 4.2 applications in 2016 to 14 in 2018, thereby increasing insecticide cost from $54.63/acre to $147.85/acre in 2018 (Harper et al., 2018). Each of these vineyards reported spraying insecticide every 3–5 days during peak SLF activity and still could not maintain control.
  • The existing and potential damage to fruit production and the increased use of insecticides prove a clear need for IPM research. A working group was funded to address the threats posed by SLF.
IMPACTS
  • The SLF working group built multistate and regional research and outreach efforts.
  • The SLF working leveraged their Northeastern IPM Center by receiving a USDA-SCRI award of $7.3 million in 2019.
  • The four-year SCRI grant is complemented by more than $5 million in matching funds from participating crop growers and landowners.
  • The group continues to work towards increased public awareness of SLF and dissemination of outreach materials, many of which have been created in collaboration with multiple states and agencies.
  • The Northeastern IPM Center has reached 1,153 people via 5 SLF outreach webinars in 2018 and 2019.
  • Long-term impacts will include increased knowledge of biological control options, development of environmentally and economically sustainable solutions, and integration of SLF management into holistic IPM programs.
  • For example, this project led to a publication titled “Evaluation of insecticides for control of the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula, (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), a new pest of fruit in the Northeastern U.S.,” which found the following:
    • Only thiamethoxam and bifenthrin offered 50% or greater control up to 14 days after the application for adults.
    • Chlorpyrifos was effective at killing 100% of eggs.
    • As SLF continues to expand its geographic range, we may have to rely on chemical control until biological or other cultural control measures are discovered and implemented.
WEBSITES

www.northeastipm.org/working-groups/spotted-lanternfly/
www.StopSLF.org
*Lycorma delicatula

Captions

Instar and adult SLF gather on an Ailanthus altissima tree in August in Pennsylvania. Photo: Emelie Swackhamer

SLF adults feeding on grapevine. Photo: Erica Smyers

Sooty mold from SLF. Photo: Erica Smyers

Map: New York State IPM Program; funding by New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, and the Northeastern IPM Center.

Multiple egg masses on a vineyard post. Each mass contains 30–50 eggs. These should be scraped off before they emerge in the spring. Photo: Erica Smyers

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This work is supported by Crop Protection and Pest Management Program (CPPM) grant numbers 2018-70006-28882 and 2014-70006-22484 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Last updated: 4/2021