Get ready to start stomping!
The season of the spotted lantern fly may be upon us sooner — and this year there will be more of them and they’ll stick around longer.
"Cold weather usually kills off spotted lantern fly eggs, but this winter that doesn’t seem to be the case with the milder winter we’ve had," Delaware County Parks and Recreation Commissioner Marc Manfre told our KYW news partners.
"A mild winter also means a longer lantern fly season," Jason Parker with the North Philadelphia Davey Tree Service added.
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The pesky bugs that we usually start seeing around the summer could start showing up as early as May. That means we could be in store for an extra month of spotted lantern fly season.
Experts say if you spot one of the nests, the best course of action is to contact your local parks and recreation office. Also, smashing and spraying them are effective ways to kill the eggs and bugs on your property.
Lanternflies are an invasive species native to China that can wipe out agricultural crops and several kinds of trees, according to the Department of Agriculture. The bugs like to target fruit, especially grapes, as their food source.
Great news is, they’re easy to kill. Just stomp or swat them.
