Despite its common name, does not emit light.
Part of
lanternfly genus Lycorma
in
lanternfly family Fulgoridae
in
🐜︎🐛︎ true bug order Hemiptera
in
🐞︎🐛︎🐜︎🐝︎ insect class Insecta.
Native to 🇨🇳 China, 🇮🇳 India, and 🇻🇳 Vietnam.
Invasive > 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇺🇸 USA
Invasive > report it!
Invasive > Michigan
MSUE article
"As spotted lanternflies spread, some influencers go viral for capturing or killing them." NBC News. 2022-08-27.
Visually stunning,
SLF has been reported to attack and feed on over 70 species of plants, including:
[1]
[2]
[3]
tree of heaven (ToH) Ailanthus altissima
◀SLF's preferred host!,
🍁︎ maple genus Acer
(without leaves)
:
☙ 🍁︎ vine maple Acer circinatum,
bigleaf maple Acer macrophyllum,
boxelder maple Acer negundo,
◼︎ 🍁︎ black maple Acer nigrum,
Japanese maple Acer palmatum,
⫼ 🍁︎ striped maple Acer pensylvanicum,
🇳🇴 🍁︎ Norway maple Acer platanoides,
sycamore maple Acer pseudoplatanus,
◼︎ 🍁︎ red maple Acer rubrum,
◼︎ 🍁︎ silver maple Acer saccharinum,
🍭︎🍁︎ sugar maple Acer saccharum,
🏔🍁︎ mountain maple Acer spicatum,
serviceberry genus Amelanchier,
cherry or sweet birch Betula lenta,
📄︎ paper birch or ◼︎ American white birch Betula papyrifera,
pignut hickory Carya glabra,
dogwood genus Cornus
:
flowering dogwood Cornus florida,
Cornelian-cherry dogwood Cornus mas;
◼︎ gray dogwood Cornus racemosa,
◼︎ red osier or red twig dogwood Cornus sericea,
American beech Fagus grandifolia,
◼︎ white ash Fraxinus americana,
butternut/walnut genus Juglans
:
butternut Juglans cinerea,
◼︎ eastern black walnut Juglans nigra,
🌷︎ American tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera,
🍎︎ apple genus Malus
:
🍎︎ wild crabapple Malus coronaria,
🍎︎ prairie crabapple Malus ioensis,
🍎︎ common apple Malus pumila,
◼︎ white mulberry Morus alba,
◼︎ black tupelo or black gum Nyssa sylvatica,
Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia,
🌲︎ pine genus Pinus
:
◼︎ whitebark pine Pinus albicaulis
jack pine Pinus banksiana,
lodgepole pine Pinus contorta,
shortleaf pine Pinus echinata,
limber pine or 🏔◼︎ Rocky Mountain white pine Pinus flexilis,
🇪🇺 ◼︎ European black pine Pinus nigra,
longleaf pine Pinus palustris,
ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa,
◼︎ red pine Pinus resinosa,
pitch pine Pinus rigida,
◼︎ eastern white pine Pinus strobus,
Scots pine Pinus sylvestris,
loblolly pine Pinus taeda,
scrub pine Pinus virginiana,
American sycamore Platanus occidentalis,
aspen/​cottonwood/​poplar genus Populus
:
◼︎ white poplar Populus alba,
balsam poplar Populus balsamifera,
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides,
bigtooth aspen Populus grandidentata,
♒︎ swamp cottonwood Populus heterophylla,
balm of Gilead Populus × jackii,
🇪🇺 ◼︎ European black poplar Populus nigra,
quaking aspen Populus tremuloides,
◼︎ black cottonwood Populus trichocarpa,
almond / apricot / 🍒︎ cherry / 🍊︎ nectarine / 🍑︎ peach / plum genus Prunus
:
American plum Prunus americana,
🍒︎ pin cherry Prunus pensylvanica,
◼︎🍒︎ black cherry Prunus serotina,
🍒︎ chokecherry Prunus virginiana,
oak genus Quercus
:
◼︎ white oak Quercus alba,
♒︎ ◼︎ swamp white oak Quercus bicolor,
◼︎ scarlet oak Quercus coccinea,
northern pin oak Quercus ellipsoidalis,
◼︎ southern red oak Quercus falcata,
scrub oak Quercus ilicifolia,
shingle oak Quercus imbricaria,
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa,
◼︎ blackjack oak Quercus marilandica,
rock chestnut oak Quercus montana,
chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii,
♒︎ water oak Quercus nigra,
pin oak Quercus palustris,
willow oak Quercus phellos,
🇬🇧 English oak Quercus robur,
◼︎ northern red oak Quercus rubra,
post oak Quercus stellata,
◼︎ black oak Quercus velutina,
southern live oak Quercus virginiana,
◼︎ black locust Robinia pseudoacacia,
multiflora rose Rosa multiflora,
Japanese rose Rosa rugosa,
willow genus Salix
:
◼︎ white willow Salix alba,
◼︎ peach-leaved willow Salix amygdaloides,
😭︎ weeping willow Salix babylonica,
corkscrew willow Salix matsudana,
◼︎ black willow Salix nigra,
sassafras Sassafras albidum,
Japanese snowbell Styrax japonicus,
common lilac Syringa vulgaris,
American basswood or American linden Tilia americana,
slippery elm or ◼︎ red elm Ulmus rubra
and
🍇︎ grape genus Vitis.
Spotted Lanternfly Management Guide: A Reference for Protecting Trees and Properties.
Another management idea:
-
Remove any invasive species that might host SLF, but leave one sentinel
tree of heaven (ToH) Ailanthus altissima
that you will periodically ☑ check for this insect.
-
After SLF is detected, use lethal trap trees: Kill female ToH, while you treat male trees with dinotefuran — basal bark method — to kill SLF sucking its sap.
Best wishes!
Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)