Lycorma delicatula/NJ

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Paraneoptera
Order	Hemiptera
Suborder	Auchenorrhyncha
Infraorder	Fulgoromorpha
Superfamily	Fulgoroidea
Family	Fulgoridae
Genus	Lycorma

Scientific Name

Lycorma delicatula

Common Name

spotted lanternfly

Common Name: Spotted lanternfly, Chinese blistering cicada
Family Name: Fulgoridae
Species Code: LYDE1
Native Range: China, Korea, India, Vietnam and parts of eastern Asia
NJ Status: Emerging Stage 2 – Uncommon (may be regionally abundant). It is highly threatening to native communities. The insect was detected in Pennsylvania in September 2014. This was the first detection of spotted lanternfly in the United States.

General Description

• Adults are 1 inch long and 1/2 inch wide
• Forewings are light brown with black spots at the front and a speckled band at the rear
• Hind wings are scarlet with black spots at the front and white and black bars at the rear
• Abdomen is yellow with black bars

Life Cycle

• Eggs are laid on smooth host plant surfaces and on non-host material, such as bricks, stones and dead plants.
• Eggs hatch in the spring and early summer
• Nymphs feed on a variety of host plants by sucking sap from young stems and leaves
• Adults appear in late July and tend to focus their feeding on tree of heaven (A. altissima) and grapevine (Vitis vinifera)

What to look for

• Nymphs and adults are easiest to spot at dusk or at night as they migrate up and down the trunk of the plant
• Adults excrete a sticky, sugar-rich fluid similar to honeydew as they eat. It can build up on plants and on the ground underneath infested plants, causing sooty mold to form
• Egg masses contain 30-50 eggs that adhere to flat surfaces, including tree bark. Freshly laid egg masses have a grey, waxy, mud-like coating, while hatched eggs look like brownish, seed-like deposits in four to seven columns about an inch long.
• Trees attacked by the spotted lanternfly will show a grey or black trail of sap down the trunk.

Where to look

• Stonefruit trees, pine trees, oak trees, walnut trees, poplar trees, tree of heaven (A. altissima) and grapes.

Control Recommendations

• If you detect this species, please contact the New Jersey Department of Agriculture at 609-406-6939 and report your observation to the Strike Team.

List of Resources

• Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
• hungrypests.com

Images from Bugwood.org