The spotted lanternfly is not a strong or frequent flyer, weaknesses that may hinder its ability to travel long distances by air, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
The spotted lanternfly is not a strong or frequent flyer, weaknesses that may hinder its ability to travel long distances by air, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
Those were among the findings of a study on flight behaviors of the invasive planthopper from Asia, first discovered in the United States in Berks County in 2014.
Reports of several massive flight dispersals of the insect — tens of thousands at a time — in late summer of 2017 prompted a closer look into the pest's flight patterns by scientists in Penn State's Department of Entomology.
"Even before these flight episodes, it became apparent to us that we needed to learn the 'how and why' of spotted lanternfly flight," said Thomas Baker, distinguished professor of entomology and chemical ecology, whose research team began the wind-oriented, flight dispersal research in 2017, followed by a second phase in 2018. The findings of the 2017 experiments were published recently in the Journal of Insect Behavior.
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Image: A close-up of a spotted lanternfly during a massive flight dispersal in an apple orchard near Oley, Pennsylvania. Spotted lanternfly adults are generally 1 inch long with a wingspan of nearly two inches.
CREDIT: Thomas Baker / Penn State
