Invasive spotted lanternfly confirmed in Michigan — second time since 2022

• The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed a population of invasive spotted lanternflies in Monroe County 
• This is the state’s second-ever detection of lanternflies. The pests were first spotted in Pontiac in August 2022 
• Residents are advised to squish and report the bugs, which feed on plants and produce a liquid that can grow mold deadly to vegetation

State officials are urging Michigan residents to be on the lookout for the invasive spotted lanternfly and squish these bugs before they can damage crops or ruin more neighborhood picnics. 

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed a population of the spotted lanternfly in Monroe County, the second detection of the species in Michigan since August 2022, when a population was confirmed at a county-owned parcel in Pontiac.

The latest infestation was detected at a cemetery in Lambertville through monitoring traps deployed by Michigan State University, Robert Miller, an invasive-species prevention and response specialist for MDARD confirmed. 

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“I have no evidence indicating where the spotted lanternfly came from, but it's not surprising considering that there are populations of spotted lanternfly in the Toledo metro area,” Miller said. Lambertville is right across the border from Toledo.

There were several new populations of the invasive species in Columbus and Toledo as of last August, the Ohio Department of Agriculture confirmed. 

Spotted lanternflies prefer to feed on the “tree of heaven”, also called the Chinese sumac or stinking sumac, which can be found in the Lambertville cemetery, Miller said.

This invasive tree can grow up to 70 feet tall and its leaves can be up to 3 feet long, according to the Department of Natural Resources. 

The leaves of the tree emit an odor that resembles rotten peanut butter. Its roots can develop thick bushes which can damage sewers and produce chemicals that can stall the growth of other plants. 

Lanternflies 101

Spotted lanternflies can feed on over 70 different plants including grape vines, fruit trees and other trees, like black walnut, river birch and sumac. 

The white and red insects with black spots are harmless to humans but suck sap and nutrients from crops, then secrete large amounts of a sugary, sticky, liquid called honeydew that turns into a black, sooty mold. The mold can harm or kill plants and foul surfaces. 

The bugs also leave their messy sap in trees and on people’s decks and can make it unpleasant to be outside. The honeydew also attracts other pests like yellowjackets, flies and ants, which further impact crops. 

Between late July and early August, spotted lanternflies reach adulthood and begin mating and laying eggs for the next year, and are usually active in early fall. 

“If we're seeing nymphs in a certain place that means that there were egg masses that hatched,” said Joanne Foreman, invasive-species communications coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources. “So what we're concerned about is making sure people are checking that they don't have egg masses on their vehicles.” 

Lanternflies can spread by laying eggs on cars, trailers or other motor vehicles traveling through infested areas, according to the DNR. 

“Later on in the summer as we get into July and August, we're also concerned that the flying adult version could be hitchhiking on your vehicles or on your belongings, if you've got them outside in an area that's infested,” she said. 

Lanternflies are native to East Asia but first appeared in Pennsylvania in 2017.  Since making its appearance in the United States, the species has spread rapidly—17 states in the eastern U.S. and Midwest have recorded observations of lanternflies. 

The department launched a “See it. Squish it. Report it” campaign, encouraging Michiganders to be vigilant and to kill any lanternflies they see.

How to spot a lanternfly 

The average lifespan of a spotted lanternfly from egg to adulthood is about one year, Foreman said. The adult lanternflies lay 30-60 eggs in late fall before the first freeze, when they die off. 

Egg masses look like old chewing gum, with a gray, waxy, putty-like coating. Hatched eggs are brownish, seed-like deposits in a straight line, about 1.5 inches long.

“Right now if people are seeing flying, larger insects, they're probably not seeing spotted lanternflies because they would be in the nymph stage and that's going to be the sort of beetle-looking stage, so it is harder to identify,”  Foreman said. 

The eggs hibernate between April and June, then hatch into nymphs, which range in size from an eighth of an inch to a half-inch long.

Nymphs, which are black with white spots and develop red patches as they mature, don’t have wings and look similar to beetles. 

The bugs reach full adulthood between August and September. By then, the insect is about an inch long. It looks similar to a moth with a lower wing that’s bright red with black spots and an upper wing that has black spots and black and white stripes along its edges. 

Lanternflies have a yellow and black abdomen, which is visible when their wings are open. 

How to report a sighting 

If you spot a lanternfly, the DNR encourages residents to squish it, take a photo of it and report it online.

The DNR also advises people to scrape any egg masses into a plastic bag that has alcohol or hand sanitizer in it to kill them.