Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

What’s the best bus to New York? We tested 5 for comfort and value.

You asked: Do I need a passport for my cruise?

Adaptive equipment is making national parks more inclusive

Biden honors distinguished Americans; Trump back in N.Y. court

Hope Hicks witnessed nearly every Trump scandal. Now she must testify.

State laws measure if a woman is close enough to death for an abortion

On Press Freedom Day, little to celebrate for Hong Kong’s journalists

Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

Taxes are inevitable. Paying to prepare them doesn’t have to be.

The Capitals, a team in transition, know what they want this offseason

Is Pastis as good as our food critic thought? He sent spies to find out.

Nationals can’t solve Nate Eovaldi, drop series finale to Rangers

Teen grabs wheel when driver passes out and school bus veers into traffic

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

Brave Little Hunter is free: Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

Ask Amy: Should I be the best man if I think the bride is abusive?

Carolyn Hax: Husband keeps pushing modest spouse to wear sexier clothes

Miss Manners: Host eats luxurious breakfast, leaves cereal for guest

Israel’s offensive is destroying Gaza’s ability to grow its own food

Riot police and over 2,000 arrests: A look at 2 weeks of campus protests

‘It’s been abused’ Rep. McCaul on motion to vacate threat

Trump Media auditor charged by SEC with ‘massive fraud’

Google’s empire is massive. A judge will soon rule if it’s a monopoly.

Journalism in India is under assault

The dangerous new call for regime change in Beijing

Ukrainian men abroad voice anger over pressure to return home to fight 

An I bond is now at 4.28 percent. Are they still a good deal?

Use these 6 points to say no to a college you and your kid can’t afford

How this new rule protects retirement savers from costly advice

The New York Times, alone in its outrage over access to Biden

Wait, what is Stephen A. Smith talking about? Find out with our quiz.

Stephen A. Smith would like even more of your attention

Emily Wallis

Move over, stink bugs and murder hornets; another invasive pest is entering our area this fall. The spotted lantern fly may look deceivingly harmless with its colorful dress, but these insects can devastate vineyards and ruin fruit crops. If you see the insects, you have full permission to squash them.

The <a href="https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/pests-diseases/spotted-lanternfly/" target=_blank>spotted lantern fly</a>, <i>Lycorma delicatula,</i> was accidentally <a href="http://berkscd.com/insect-mgmt-2/spotted-lanternfly/#:~:text=The%20Spotted%20Lanternfly%2C%20Lycorma%20delicatula,grape%2C%20hops%20and%20logging%20industries." target=_blank>imported to Berks County</a>, Pa., in 2014, presumably in a shipping container from Asia. Since then, the insect has spread through eastern Pennsylvania to New York, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey.

The insects, thankfully, do not bite humans but cause <a href="https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/PlantIndustry/Entomology/spotted_lanternfly/SpottedLanternflyAlert/Pages/default.aspx" target=_blank>major damage</a> to plants, including oozing sap, wilting, leaf curling and tree dieback. The insects specifically target and feed on nutrient-rich phloem sap from trees, which causes physical damage.

A toast to the glorious life (and messy death) of Brood X cicadas

As they feed, they also excrete some of the sap as a sugary waste product called honeydew. The honeydew encourages the growth of a fungal disease called <a href="http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74108.html" target=_blank>sooty mold</a>, which can indirectly damage the plant. The sooty mold coats plant leaves and prevents sunlight from reaching the leaves’ surface. Without proper sunlight, plant growth is stunted, and the affected leaves can die prematurely.

“The honeydew fouls foliage and fruit. The fruit becomes unmarketable, thus presenting a huge economic problem for growers of apples, cherries, peaches and grapes,” said Michael Raupp, professor of entomology at the University of Maryland. Grapevines and tree fruits (apples, peaches, etc.) are most at risk.

Paula Shrewsbury

The spotted lantern fly will also move into wooded and residential areas to feed on other types of trees, such as maples or willows. The insects don’t kill the residential trees, but they produce a tremendous amount of honeydew that coats the ground and lawn furniture, attracts yellow jackets and leads to the growth of sooty mold.

To date, more than 1.5 million of the insects have been killed by volunteers in Berks and surrounding counties, Raupp said.

The map below shows areas of infestation and sightings.

New York State Integrated Pest Management Program

Lantern fly quarantines, outlined on red in the map, prohibit their transport. The quarantines in place in southeast Pennsylvania and portions of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey are meant “to stop its spread to new areas and to slow its spread,” according to Raupp.

Despite having wings, the adults don’t fly far. The bugs are often spread by vehicles. Residents in quarantined counties are urged to inspect vehicles and goods for transport to ensure that the insects and their egg masses are not hitching a ride.

“If females lay eggs on a substrate that eventually moves (e.g., automobiles or goods), then they quickly spread that way,” Josephine Antwi, a professor of biology at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, wrote in an email.

Michael Raupp

<a href="https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/pests-diseases/spotted-lanternfly/about/" target=_blank>Adults lay</a> eggs September through December, while egg masses have been spotted from September to June. Egg masses hold about 30 to 50 eggs and are approximately one inch in size. Females can lay up to two egg masses, typically on flat surfaces including tree bark, rocks, lawn furniture, RVs or anything left outdoors. Although the adults don’t survive through the winter, the eggs can.

“When females lay eggs, they cover them with a putty-like material that hardens with time. This material serves to protect the eggs and secure them to any surface they’re laid on,” Antwi wrote.

The next generation of cicadas hatched, beginning 17-year life cycle

So far, Wayne Mills, vineyard operations manager for the Winery at Bull Run, has not spotted the insect. But he is worried. Mills manages vineyards in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Rappahannock counties.

Though the spotted lantern fly doesn’t kill most trees, it can kill grapevines. <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-management-in-vineyards" target=_blank>Vineyards in Pennsylvania have been hit particularly hard</a>. And if the vines survive, the grapes are tainted with the insect’s honeydew, resulting in sooty mold, and can’t be used for winemaking.

Mills emphasized that the spotted lantern fly’s favorite tree is the <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/stories-in-indiana/journey-with-nature--tree-of-heaven/">tree of heaven</a>, which is an invasive tree native to China. The tree of heaven lines many of our highways because it thrives in poor soil conditions, which exist where road construction disturbed topsoil. Thus, the bug may follow our roads and eventually spread across the Washington region. Mills is hoping an insecticide is quickly approved for use against spotted lantern flies in his vineyards.

Introducing a new predator for the spotted lantern fly is another hope for reducing the pest population. A tiny wasp found in China, <i>Dryinus browni,</i> lays its eggs inside baby spotted lantern fly nymphs, which later hatch into larvae and feed on the nymphs, killing them. But introducing another invasive species is a risk, and research is being done at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit before releasing the wasp in the United States.

Yellow jackets: Fall’s fearsome and feisty wasps that can sting repeatedly

In addition, <a href="https://nysipm.cornell.edu/environment/invasive-species-exotic-pests/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly-ipm/management-predators-and-parasitoids/" target=_blank>research is being conducted at Cornell University</a> to find a fungus to kill the spotted lantern fly, similar to how a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/science/gypsy-moths-fungus.html" target=_blank>fungus was used to control the gypsy moth population</a>.

Meanwhile, if you encounter the spotted lantern fly, you’re encouraged to squish it. Recently, a “<a href="https://www.cbf.org/news-media/newsroom/2021/pennsylvania/squad-of-cbf-students-sets.html">Squish Squad</a>” of students in Pennsylvania mobilized to stomp out the pest.

You should also report any spotted lantern flies or egg masses in <a href="https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Documents/SLF-Quarantine-Fact-Sheet.pdf" target=_blank>Maryland</a> and <a href="https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/press-releases-210209-spotted-lanternfly.shtml" target=_blank>Virginia</a>.

But for now, in most of the Washington area, we await the dreaded bug’s arrival. Unfortunately, it should happen soon.

Kevin Ambrose

Wake Forest University, BS in Chemistry

Boston University, MS in Science Journalism

Kasha Patel writes the weekly Hidden Planet column, which covers scientific topics related to Earth, from our inner core to space storms aimed at our planet. She also covers weather, climate and environment news.

Kasha Patel

washpost

The spotted laternfly may soon arrive in D.C., Maryland and Virginia

Average Year-To-Date	1
Yearly Average	40
Record Most	67 (1980,2010)
Record Fewest	7 (1886,1905)
Last Year	38