Fighting spotted lanternflies: Invasive sap-sucking bugs return to Northwest Ohio

Fighting spotted lanternflies: Invasive sap-sucking bugs return to Northwest Ohio

PERRYSBURG, Ohio (WTVG) - If you haven’t seen spotted lanternflies recently, it’s not because they’re not here yet.

Environmental experts say the bugs are currently in their nymph stage and will reach the more recognizable adult stage in the next few weeks.

“As we sit today, in the middle of July, you can see both stages of the nymph,” said Lauren Rush, the natural resources manager for the City of Perrysburg. “And that is both a small black with white spots, and a slightly larger red with black and white on it as well.”

Rush says you can squish or stomp these harmful insects at any stage in their life; from egg, to nymph, to adult.

The invasive sap-suckers are native to Asia. Spotted lanternflies were first seen in Ohio in 2020, and have had a significant presence in the Northwestern part of the state in the past few years.

The bugs feed on sweet plants like the invasive tree of heaven, walnut trees, blackberry bushes and grapevines.

“It will coat the leaves of anything underneath that tree where the lanternfly is hanging out. And it can kill all of those plants by making a black, sooty mold,” Rush said.

Perrysburg was awarded $15,000 by the Ohio Department of Agriculture to help stop the spread of spotted lanternflies.

Workers are removing the tree of heaven from city property. They are also setting sticky traps around tree trunks that are meant to capture and kill the bugs without harming other animals.

“We’re trying to do our best as a community here to help control the lanternfly, but hopefully in the long run, nature will take over and things will start eating these bugs and there will be an end in sight,” Rush said.

A spokesperson from the Ohio Department of Agriculture told 13 Action News adult spotted lanternflies will be emerging in the near future in the Toledo area.

“We do expect a noticeable presence this summer, however it’s possible the cold winter weather could have reduced the egg hatch this year,” wrote the spokesperson in a statement.

Experts have been advising people to squash the bugs if you see the invasive species.

For more information about treating and stopping the spread of spotted lanternfly, click here.

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